Deep in the valley of Beichuan County is one of the hardest hit quake areas. Relief workers have been working around the clock. So far, more than 300 people have been pulled from the rubble. CCTV reporter Wang Mangmang and cameraman Xu Peng are at the scene.
So far, more than 300 people have been pulled from the rubble.
Everywhere in the valley shows traces of the Monday disaster. Among these traces are rescuers rushing to save lives.
So far, Beichuan suffers from the highest death toll, more than 5,400. And that number does not include those in the twenty villages whose situation remains unknown. Still, over eighteen thousand people are buried in ruins.
CCTV reporter Wang Mangmang said, "The rescuers have found a female survivor under this rubble. She is still conscious and can speak in a very weak voice. The woman quickly drank up two bottles of water given to her through a soft tube. And rescuers are looking for ways to get her out as soon as possible."
The woman says she lives on the first floor, but the building has sunk about three stories under ground. Frequent, minor aftershocks are causing the building to descend faster. She is lucky to be found, but there are still so many people like her waiting to be discovered.
The quake also destroyed eighty percent of the houses in the old town and sixty percent in the new town, making it very difficult to search for survivors. But that is just a beginning. Steep mountain roads as well as muddy and slippery surface is severely hampering rescue progress.
A Beichuan resident said, "I wasn't injured. The rescuers found me soon after the quake. But it took them three hours to carry me to a safe place. And after that, they had to go back all the way down to help others. It's such a long, hard way."
Gigantic rocks fallen from the mountain have entirely blocked the way to the county. So rescuers have to work with very simple tools. The post-quake seventy two hours is considered a crucial period to save lives, chances of survival are likely to reduce after that.
(CCTV May 16, 2008)