The meaning of いた in this sentence related to be left surviving

Question

The whole sentence is:

だが、偶然にも生き残ったサイア人たちがいた。

Could it be:

However, fortuitously surviving sayajins remained.

In this case, this いた is the past of 居る? If this right, 居る could have the reading "to remain" or "the be left" in this case?

Thanks.

Answer 1

いた just means "there was ～" here. いた is the past tense of いる ("to be", "to exist"). And is サイア人 a typo for サイヤ人?

生き残ったサイヤ人
Saiyans who survived

偶然にも生き残ったサイヤ人
Saiyans who happened to survive

だが、偶然にも生き残ったサイヤ人たちがいた。
However, there were Saiyans who happened to survive.

Answer 2

As youy say, いた is the past of 居る.