A German tourist missing for five days has told Xinhua how villagers in an isolated community cared for him for five days after the southwest China earthquake.
Brakus Bogdan, 62, was initially reported to have been pulled alive from quake debris, but he had in fact been safe and well, staying in Taoguan village, near the epicenter of the quake in Wenchuan county.
Bogdan was located early on Thursday, but soldiers from the People's Liberation Army were only able to evacuate him from the village on Saturday, 114 hours after the quake.
"I am totally fine. Nothing is wrong with me," the climber with the Munich-based Hauser Travel Agency told Xinhua by phone.
He was traveling with translator Xu Jianming and driver Gao Wei in a four-wheeled drive vehicle across a bridge when the quake happened.
"As a mountaineer, I have run into many dangerous situations, but never a quake like this," he said.
He recalled seeing stones falling on to the road and then the dust. "Everything started to move," he said. "It was like hell, like an atomic bomb, like a movie, like the end of the world."
After about 10 minutes, the tremor died down, and they escaped from the vehicle and climbed over a large pile of landslide debris. Ahead they found the small village.
"In the village there was an industrial park, where some buildings were badly destroyed," said Bogdan.
A girl came over to them with bread, water and meat. She later took the travelers into a factory building where many local people were sheltering.
Bogdan said he was surprised to find the locals, especially factory workers, were well-organized.
During the five days, he said local people provided food and drinking water. At night, they went back to sleep in the vehicle.
"These people were very, very helpful. They asked us to eat whenever meals were ready. They asked my translator to tell me that everything would be okay," he said.
He felt at a loss when he saw the women crying over dead relatives.
Two days later, troops came to the village to check conditions and left food and water.
"It was very dangerous for the military to arrive there where aftershocks and landslides were still occurring now and then."
The trio, all in good condition, have been moved to a tent at the military disaster relief headquarters in the county seat, north of Taoguan village and about 90 minutes away by car.
The first thing Bogdan did after his relocation was contacting his wife. "When she heard my voice, she cried," he said, adding that over the past days, his wife and their only son had been trying desperately to locate him through friends in contact with China.
"She asked me to fly back to Germany as soon as possible." Bogdan, who has been in Sichuan since April 14, later also phoned the German Embassy in Beijing.
Wang Kai, an officer in charge of communications with the Chengdu Military Command, said rescuers would transport them to Sichuan provincial capital, Chengdu, when a suitable vehicle became available.
Leaving Taoguan village, Bogdan, who has traveled to China ten times, promised villagers he would try to visit them again later this year.
"I was so touched by these people," he said. "They were so kind-hearted, so open, so nice that I would like to come and visit again, maybe with other German tourists." Enditem
(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2008)