Man rescued after 100 hours under rubble
Benjamin Morgan; 16/5/08
Rescue crews pulled a man from a crushed building today exactly 100 hours after China’s quake, but only after amputating an arm and a leg in a desperate bid to save his life. Rescue workers, army troops and a tense crowd of about 100 onlookers erupted in wild cheers and applause as Liu Deyun was pulled to safety after a 12-hour rescue effort that gripped this quake-pulverised town since early morning. Liu being pulled from the rubble of a collapsed factory building at 6.28pm (2028 AEST), 100 hours to the minute after China’s biggest earthquake in a generation flattened huge areas of southwestern China. “It was a miracle, but miracles happen through hard work and this happened through our hard work,” Zhao Hongxing, an army doctor who was involved in saving Liu, said.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23712006-12335,00.html
China puts quake damage bill at $21bn
17/5/08
Cracked dams and buckled roads, collapsed buildings and toppled factories - China has begun tallying losses from the calamitous earthquake that struck earlier this week and already estimates are that the damage will cost the country $US20billion ($21.3 billion). With the death toll from the disaster forecast to rise as high as 50,000, China’s main focus yesterday remained on rescue and relief for survivors of the 7.9-magnitude quake that hit Sichuan province on Monday. Central and local authorities have allocated 5.4billion yuan ($823 million) for disaster relief, the central bank said, as millions more poured in via public and corporate donations
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23710221-25837,00.html
Boy’s dying words were ‘like a knife through my heart’
Rowan Callick & Zhang Yufei, Hanwang; 17/5/08
Using a fireman’s axe, scissors and a kitchen knife, Li Yinxian amputated the legs of a young boy in a bid to free him from the rubble of his school, only to watch him slowly die. “When I told the boy I was going to cut off his legs, he just said ‘Go ahead, please save me, I don’t need them’,” Dr Li , a doctor aiding rescue efforts after China’s devastating earthquake, told the Beijing News. “The words were like a knife through my heart,” he said.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23710637-25837,00.html
‘Save me’: girl freed after 50 hours under rubble
Zhang Yufei, & Rowan Callick; 16/5/08
A girl murmuring “save me, save me” was pulled from the rubble yesterday, 50 hours after her school was destroyed in China’s earthquake and hundreds of her fellow pupils died. Rescuers prised apart slabs of cement late yesterday to reach He Cuiqing, who was among 857 students at the three-storey middle school taking an afternoon rest when the 7.9-magnitude tremor struck on Monday. A rescuer said he heard He’s weak voice saying: “Uncle, save me, save me,” China’s state news agency Xinhua reported from the hard-hit southwestern Sichuan province. “If anything had happened to her, the voice would haunt me for the rest of my life,” the rescuer was quoted as saying.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23705081-25837,00.html
Tags: China, Environment, Financial Costs, Rescues