Two days after the earthquake, the rain in Hanwang town has eased off and the rescue work is accelerating. Cheng Shengzhong, journalist from china.org.cn, reports from the spot.
With the help of three professional cranes, rescuers are searching for survivors in the debris of a collapsed factory. Several bodies have been discovered in the past hour.
As the relief operation continues, rescuers find a survivor in the ruins. The girl, her legs trapped under debris, seems haggard but stable. After discussions with her parents, medical personnel decide to carry out an amputation operation on the girl. It is the only way to save her life. Fortunately the operation is a success, and despite spending 68 hours trapped in the ruins, she is saved. Her name is Yang Liu and she is a Senior Secondary School student.
China's only professional rescue team – China Rescue Team – is on the spot now and they have already succeeded in saving 63 people from the debris. They have discovered signs of five more living victims in the collapsed building. The rescue work is so dangerous that two members of the team were injured by falling masonry yesterday.
Air quality at the spot is poor and many people are wearing gauze masks. A large crowd of people are watching the rescue operation anxiously from across the river.
(China.org.cn translated by Xiang Bin, May 15, 2008)