Taiwan Mourns: Taiwanese Woman Believed Dead in Myanmar Hotel Collapse

A tragedy unfolds as a Taiwanese tourist is feared lost in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake.

Thailand, April 1 - In a heartbreaking development, a Taiwanese woman is believed to have perished in the collapse of the Great Wall Hotel in Mandalay, Myanmar, following Friday's powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake. This news comes as Taiwan grapples with the tragic loss of one of its citizens abroad.

According to Lo Chen-hua (羅振華), Secretary-General of the Myanmar Taiwan Business Association, rescue teams, including search and rescue dogs and life detection equipment, found no signs of life at the hotel on Monday afternoon. This led to the grim conclusion that the wife of a Taiwanese man, identified by the surname Lin (林), who was trapped in the rubble, is deceased.

The Lins, who were visiting Mandalay as tourists, were staying at the Great Wall Hotel when the earthquake struck at 12:50 p.m. on Friday. Mr. Lin, fortunately, was near the entrance and managed to escape with minor injuries to his arms and head. Sadly, his wife was trapped with several hotel staff members on the ground floor as the building partially collapsed.

Lo recounted that Mr. Lin was able to communicate with his wife for a day or two after the disaster, using a walkie-talkie belonging to one of the trapped staff. The rescuers are currently working to recover the deceased. Once located, the Taiwanese woman's remains will be moved to a nearby overseas Taiwanese convention center in Mandalay and cremated before being returned to Taiwan with her husband.

A Taiwanese diplomat from Yangon arrived in Mandalay on Monday night and visited the collapsed hotel. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in Taipei confirmed that the diplomat was informed that the trapped national showed no vital signs. The MOFA expressed its condolences to Mr. Lin, and Taiwan's top envoy to Myanmar, Chou Chung-hsing (周中興), personally contacted Mr. Lin, promising government assistance with the aftermath.

The journey to Mandalay, approximately 620 kilometers north of Yangon, has been hampered by damaged roads caused by the earthquake, as reported by the MOFA.