CHINA> Survival Miracles
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Exclusive: Miracle survivors pulled from rubble
By Rong Xiandong (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-05-17 21:12
SHIFANG, Sichuan Province - Bian Gangfen has created a miracle. She managed to stay alive more than 124 hours after a killer earthquake toppled a 5-story building and buried her deep in the rubbles. "It is a miracle that a woman could survive 124 hours after being buried," a rescuing doctor told a chinadaily.com.cn reporter at the site. Seventy-two hours is generally accepted as the prime time for survivors' rescue after a major quake.
Rescue workers found Bian alive with life detection equipment at about 23:00 local time Friday, nearly 105 hours after the tremor. However, a huge pillar hampered the rescue efforts. Other Miracle Survivors: -- A 46-year-old man was saved alive at about 11:06 pm Saturday night after being buried for almost 129 hours in the rubble of a collapsed residential building in Dujiangyan. The survivor, Zhang Xiaoping was immediately sent to hospital to have his legs amputated. -- A 61-year-old woman was saved alive Saturday evening by Russian rescuers after being buried for up to 127 hours in the rubble. The unidentified woman was the first survivor found by foreign rescue teams -- including a total of 237 rescuers from Japan, Russia, the Republic of Korea and Singapore. -- In Yingxiu Township, the epicenter county of Wenchuan, Jiang Yuhang, 20, a highway administration employee, was extricated at about 5:12 pm after being trapped for 123 hours in the rubble of his home. -- Zhou Zhi, 33, was pulled alive at about 6 pm Saturday from the rubble of a workshop above ground at the Jinhe Mine in Hongbai Township in Shifang county. -- A 52-year-old man, Ji Zhongshan, was pulled from a collapsed building of a former five-story hotel in Beichuan county, about 160 km northeast of the epicenter, 11:30 am Saturday, 117 hours after being trapped in the rubbles. -- In a Taoist temple near Yinghua, Shifang, two monks were discovered after being stranded in the area for about five days after the tremor. |