Girl pulled, alive, from rubble 50 hours after China quake

The first few hours after a disaster are critical in finding survivors who are trapped in structural collapses. As time passes, the chances of finding survivors diminishes exponentially. There are, however, those rare and precious exceptions.

Fifty hours after the Monday earthquake in China, a little girl was removed from the debris today from her collapsed state dormitory school in Qingchuan County, Sichuan province, leaving her buried until rescuers heard her cries for help and dug her out of the ruins today. There have been 89 other children rescued from the collapsed school, where another estimated 201 were killed during nap-time when the quake hit. There are still an unknown number of children still believed to be trapped in the structure.

Wang Guangfen, a nurse, climbed under a cement slab to give medicine to the girl, He Cuiqing, while other rescuers carefully shifted slabs until they could remove the girl.

"She appeared very fragile, and there were blood stains on her chest," China.org, quoted Wang saying. "But she was still conscious and called me aunt when I reached her."

Thousands of people who have been displaced after the quake have sought refuge in Mianyang, where the rescue and refugee centers have been set up in gymnasiums and other public facilities. The numbers of dead, injured, and homeless after Monday's earthquake are still coming in, and have climbed into the tens of thousands in each category. Such rescues as the little girl saved today give rescuers a boost of moral to continue their grim and arduous search as China recovers from disaster.