SINGAPORE — Workers rescued two men trapped for 36 hours in the rubble of a collapsed hotel, and carved tunnels in debris in a frantic bid to find others believed buried alive in the concrete and steel wreckage.

Ten were confirmed killed, 11 were rescued, and 61 others were safe and accounted for among the estimated 80 to 100 people who were believed in the six stories New World Hotel and bank when the structure collapsed at midday Saturday.

There was no explanation of what caused the collapse of the 15yearold, reinforced concrete structure, but Lee Wee Siong, 36, a transport company worker, said he saw workers erecting wood supports in the underground garage just before the collapse.

Two Chinese nationals were pulled Sunday from a concrete and steel mound left by the col

examinations, They suffered no visible injuries.

Their dramatic escape spurred an international team of rescue ‘workers to intensify their efforts to reach others. Rescuers lasted through building’s beams with high powered water jets, and tunneled from the building’s underground garage toward a woman, a man and a child trapped nearby and believed to be alive. Air pipes were pushed toward the three,

“After the three are rescued, we will make other holes,” fire department Deputy Director Tan Jin ‘Thong said,

Five to seven other survivors were detected in other parts of the debris by engineers using sound sensitive equipment, officials said.

The rescue efforts were stalled Sunday when a portion of a 30foot tunnel collapsed. The entryway into the rubble was carved just wide enough for one rescuer to crawl through,

After massive concrete slabs were removed Sunday morning, rescue work accelerated steadily.

Human chains passed of concrete, beams, and baskets of debris out of the main pile of wreckage.

By late Sunday, much of the tunneling was turned over to a multinational team of subway on construction workers, including = Japanese French and British engineers.

Tens of thousands of spectators were drawn to the wreckage a heap of concrete, twisted steel, mattresses and. chips of wood. Many said it looked like a scene from last year’s Mexico City earthquake.

The scene outside the popular hotel, in an area known as Little India, was like a macabre death watch before the latest rescue.

Friends and relatives of those believed to be in the rubble keep their own undaunted vigil, praying.

(Officials began assembling construction blueprints and other documents related to the New World. A commission of inquiry is to be appointed by president Wee Kim Wee.

The concrete slabs were expected to be analyzed for structural weakness and the soil under the hotel examined. Rain fell in Singapore for the last two weeks.

Article extracted from this publication >> March 21, 1986