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Soldiers and students rescue Chinese victims
Denmark News.Net
Wednesday 14th May, 2008
Hundreds of soldiers have entered the southwest China earthquake epicenter to pull more than 1,000 people from debris.
The Sichuan provincial military commander, led a team of more than 300 soldiers into Wenchuan county, Sichuan Province, with more troops expected.
On Monday, rescuers were stranded outside Wenchuan as roads were blocked by boulders and rocks following the earthquake.
The quake death toll in Wenchuan is still unavailable.
Meanwhile, a school student is being hailed a hero.
Zhu Fumin, a senior high secondary student, is being hailed for helping save the lives of 33 of his classmates.
While everyone else panicked, the 15-year-old ordered everyone to lie prone when the quake jolted their classroom.
One of his classmates has said most of the teenagers followed him to hide under their desks.
In the darkness when some students began to scream and cry, Zhu told classmates to stay calm and not to get exhausted.
Within a few minutes, the students had calmed down. Some used their cell phones as torch-lights and found the ceiling had toppled.
Several students who didn't move fast enough were stuck between the ceiling and the desks.
In about an hour, Zhu heard noises outside the ramshackle wall, and found a little hole, where a ventilator had been removed.
He shouted through the hole for help, and found that teachers and students were digging through the wall.
Zhu and others than tore a gap in the wall through which 33 of all the 65 students escaped.
A senior official with the Sichuan Provincial government said on Wednesday that the earthquake death toll in the province exceeded 14,000.
Li Chengyun, vice governor of Sichuan, said at a news conference that the death toll, based on incomplete figures, tallied 14,463 on Wednesday.
He said another 14,051 were missing, 25,788 buried in debris, and 64,746 injured.
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