German tourist pulled out 114 hours after quake

(Xinhua/Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-17 13:41

WENCHUAN, Sichuan Province - A German tourist was Saturday pulled out of the wreckage of a house alive by Chinese soldiers in Wenchuan county at the epicenter, 114 hours after the deadly earthquake.

His first name was pronounced as "Bergdahl", according to a Xinhua reporter at the site. Xinhua is contacting the German Embassy in Beijing to confirm the full name and its spelling.

More than 20 soldiers pulled out the tourist out of debris in Taoguan village of Wenchuan county at about 8:10 am Saturday

He has been rushed to the medical center of Wenchuan disaster relief headquarters. If his injury is in serious condition, the tourist will be sent to hospitals in Chengdu, Sichuan's capital.

The German was the latest of several people rescued far in a time period past what experts call the critical three-day "window" for finding survivors.

China Central Television reported Saturday rescuers extricated a 10-year-old girl trapped under her collapsed elementary school for 100 hours.

With the help of a crane, dozens of workers removed the fourth-grader from the rubble of Yingxiu Central Elementary School in Wenchuan on Friday evening after working all day. A dozen students had been rescued from the school, CCTV said.

The girl's condition was not known. CCTV said medical teams were treating the girl, who looked like a dusty rag doll when she was pulled out of the wreckage, missing a shoe and with a white cloth tied over her face to protect her from the blinding light after being in darkness for so long.

Rescue teams recovered 163 people alive on Friday, CCTV said Saturday.



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