DHAKA: Rescuers are searching the rubble of a high-rise residential building in southern Taiwan after an earthquake that killed at least 11 people.

Some 30 people are still missing from the 17-storey block, which was one of several that collapsed in Tainan city when the magnitude 6.4 quake struck just before 04:00 (20:00 GMT Friday).

Among the dead was a newborn baby, reports the BBC.

President Ma Ying-jeou has promised an ‘all-out effort’ to rescue people. Hundreds of soldiers are taking part.

Shelters would be set up for those who have lost their homes in the city of two million people, he said when he arrived in Tainan.

The 17 storeys of the Wei Kuan apartment complex, home to at least 256 people, crumpled down on each other as the quake took hold.

Television pictures showed rescuers frantically trying to reach people trapped in the rubble, using ladders to climb over piles of debris.

More than 200 people were rescued, but a baby, young girl and two adult men did not survive, officials said.

Elsewhere in the city, at least two other victims were killed by falling debris.

BDST: 1828 HRS, FEB 06, 2016
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** Deadly quake topples buildings in Taiwan