Nepal (CNN) On day six of Nepal's tragedy, life triumphed as
rescuers pulled an 18-year-old man from the rubble of a multistory residential
building in one of Kathmandu's hard-hit neighborhoods.
A large crowd erupted in cheers as Pemba Tamang was carried
out on a stretcher. He was wearing a New York shirt and blue neck brace, was
blanketed by dust and had the look of a deer in the headlights.
His rescuer, Inspector Lakshman Basnet of the Nepalese Armed
Police Force, said Tamang was responsive and showed no apparent signs of
serious injury.
He was given an IV drip and rushed from the Gongapur area to
a temporary emergency hospital run by an Israeli aid team.
The Nepalese rescuers had been working for five hours to
locate Tamang after they heard his voice buried under the debris.
'It's dangerous but it's
what we do'
An American disaster response team was at a nearby damaged
bus station when they got word that someone might be alive.
Andrew Olvera, the head of the U.S. team, said his men rushed
over with search dogs and equipment ranging from breaching tools to
sophisticated cameras that can probe under the rubble.
He said the operation carried enormous risk, as chunks of the
collapsed building hung precariously on rebar. Entire floors of what used to be
people's homes were visible -- ceiling fans and beds still draped with cotton
sheets. It was a mountain of loss and sorrow.
"It's dangerous but it's what we do," said Olvera,
who has a daughter and twin 11-year-old boys. "It's risk versus gain. To
save a human life, we will risk almost everything.
"The way the building is, it's definitely a
miracle," he said.
Man 'survived by good
faith'
Tamang cried for water in a muffled voice. He had been buried
for five days under a building that pancaked. He dodged death because of a
motorcycle that shielded him from the pressure of the concrete and steel,
according to Basnet.
And, Basnet said, he "survived by good faith."
Dennis Bautista, who went down where Tamang was buried to
administer medical aid, called the rescue amazing.
"It feels good to be able to help out. I can't imagine
what he went through," Bautista said. "He is a brave young man."
Basnet said once he got closer to Tamang, he tried to reassure
him that he would be OK.
"I gave him water and talked to him regularly,"
Basnet said.
Rescuers continue
search
After Tamang was rushed to the hospital, the USAID team
continued the search for more potential survivors.
The possibility remained that someone else might have
survived like Tamang.
Other search and rescue teams continued to scour through
Kathmandu's rubble Thursday. They are looking for survivors from the
7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Saturday, killing 5,489 people and
wounding more than 11,000, according to Nepali authorities. Another 72 people
were reported dead in India, and 25 in China.
In Nepal, 19 of the deaths occurred on Mount Everest, where
the quake triggered deadly avalanches. Despite the disaster, Nepali authorities
plans to reopen routes up the mountain as soon as next week.
Teams are clearing paths and and rebuilding ladders, Tourism
Ministry spokesman Krishna Sapkota told CNN on Thursday. Officials are
encouraging people who have already received permission to climb this season to
go ahead with their plans.
As the chances dimmed for finding people alive in the
wreckage left by the quake across Nepal, Tamang's rescue boosted hopes for all
those who still have loved ones and friends missing.
Other people have been saved from the quake wreckage in
previous days, including a 27-year-old man on Tuesday and a 4-month-old boy on
Sunday.
The rescuers, meanwhile, have no intention of giving up.
Haiti, Olvera said, revised the benchmark for what was
thought possible for survival. A man there was miraculously pulled from the
rubble after 27 long days.
Indeed our God is a miracle working God.
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