Remains found identified as Singaporean victim of April 2024 Taiwan earthquake

SINGAPORE:  The remains of a Singaporean who was killed in the earthquake that struck Taiwan’s Hualien county in April last year have been found.

Taiwanese media reported on Sunday (Jan 26) that a 59-year-old man named Wang found what appeared to be human remains on a riverbed beneath a landslide area along the Shakadang Trail on Jan 11. 

Mr Sim Hwee Kok and his partner Ms Neo Siew Choo were last captured on surveillance cameras getting off a bus near the Shakadang Trail at around 7.20am on Apr 3, 2024 – about 40 minutes before the 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit.

Mr Wang informed the police who conducted further searches in the area but did not find any additional remains, according to multiple Taiwanese media reports. 

Forensic experts examined the remains and identified it as a human hip bone.

The remains were then transferred to Hualien’s district court for further investigations and on Jan 24, DNA analysis confirmed that the remains belonged to Mr Sim. 

His identity was confirmed by matching DNA from the remains with a sample provided by his son, who had travelled to Taiwan after the quake to search for his father, according to local media.

The Singaporean couple were the only two people reported missing after the disaster whom authorities had not been able to find.

Taiwanese authorities believe that Mr Sim and Ms Neo were swept away by a landslide on the Shakadang Trail during the quake, with the man’s remains being carried into a ravine by the flow of debris and river currents. 

Hualien’s district court said it will notify Mr Sim’s family to arrange for the retrieval of his remains, according to local media.

DEATH CERTIFICATES ISSUED IN DECEMBER

Taiwanese authorities issued death certificates for Mr Sim and Ms Neo last month as they had not been able to find them and were presumed dead.

The death certificates for the couple list their time of death as noon on Apr 3, with the quake recorded as the strongest to hit Taiwan in 25 years.

It triggered landslides that blocked roads and severely damaged buildings around the main Hualien city. The incident was followed by more than 1,100 aftershocks.

Over 1,000 people were injured in the quake, with at least 18 deaths.