Quake Survivor Freed After 8 Days

Trapped Woman Survived By Drinking Rainwater; China: 40,000 Dead, 5 Million Homeless

(CBS/AP)  A woman who survived by drinking rainwater was rescued alive Tuesday after being trapped in the rubble of China's earthquake for more than 195 hours, news reports said, while the death toll in the disaster rose to more than 40,000.

The 60-year-old suffered only a hip fracture and facial bruises during her eight-day ordeal, which began after a landslide swept away a temple in the city of Pengzhou, Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite Television reported, citing air force officer Xie Ling Long.

The woman was initially free to move, but a later aftershock trapped her between two large stones, according to the report.

The official Xinhua news agency identified her as Wang Youqun, a retiree, and said she had been unconscious for a day when a falling girder hit her head in the May 12 quake.

The tale of survival came after the confirmed death toll from the disaster rose to 40,075, according to the State Council, China's Cabinet. Officials have said the final number killed by the quake was expected to surpass 50,000.

Five million people lost their homes in the quake, said Jiang Li, vice minister of civil affairs.

The government was setting up temporary housing for victims unable to find shelter with relatives, but there was a "desperate need for tents" to accommodate them, she said.

Nearly 280,000 tents have been shipped to the area and 700,000 more ordered, with factories working triple shifts to meet demand.

"Despite generous donations, the disaster is so great that victims still face a challenge in finding living accommodations," Jiang said.

China has said it will accept foreign medical teams, as the relief efforts shift from searching for survivors to caring for the homeless. A growing number of countries responded to the call, dispatching doctors to the quake area Tuesday.

A Russian medical team with a mobile hospital arrived Tuesday in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. A 37-member medical team sent by the Taiwan Red Cross organization also arrived in the disaster zone.

A 23-member medical team from Japan also departed Tuesday for China, replacing a rescue team in the disaster zone, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

Crews of doctors were also en route from Germany and Italy, Qin said.

At the West China Hospital in Chengdu, staff were trying to find relatives of victims being treated. A relief tent in the courtyard doubled as a bulletin board displaying about 50 snapshots of people who had not been claimed by families, mostly elderly patients or children.

Liu Yuanzhong said his son lost both legs when his office building collapsed in the town of Hanwang. The 38-year-old man, Liu Rui, was a manager at a coal mining company and was attending a weekly meeting about safety issues when the tremor struck, his father said.

"It'll be up to the government to help him, but we don't know how much the government will do," the elder Liu said. "His wife doesn't work and we don't know what she will do."

Nearer the epicenter in the town of An Xian, a crew of volunteers arrived from Tangshan, the Chinese city that suffered the country's worst quake in 1976 that killed at least 240,000 people.

"Now it's time for us to help the others that are suffering," said Song Zhixian, a farmer among a group of 15 older men wearing red hard hats and vests. "It is part of the Chinese virtue and spirit: when one place suffers, then everyone else helps."

Flags in the country remained at half-staff and entertainment events canceled on the second day of a three-day national mourning period declared by the Chinese government, an unprecedented gesture normally reserved for dead state leaders.

During the mourning period, flags were flying at half-staff and entertainment events have been canceled. CBS News reporter Celia Hatton said the Olympic torch relay has also been suspended.

Thousands of quake survivors awoke Tuesday after spending a night sleeping in cars and in the open, frightened by government warnings of a potential strong aftershock. The alarm compounded uneasiness in the region, which has been rumbled by dozens of aftershocks since the quake.

Elsewhere, a panda from the Wolong Nature Preserve that disappeared during the quake returned safely, but two of the endangered animals were still missing, Xinhua reported. The others were "very likely to be alive," forestry official Xiong Beirong told the agency, because they were adults.

The quake killed five staff members at the reserve and destroyed or damaged all of its 32 panda houses. The local government has sent emergency supplies of bamboo, apples and veterinary medicine for the pandas, along with food and tents for staff.

Thirty-two radioactive sources also were buried under rubble, Xinhua reported, citing Minister of Environmental Protection Zhou Shengxian.

Only two have not been recovered, although authorities have located them and restricted access to nearby areas, Zhou was cited as saying. They were expected to be transported to safety soon. The rest have been disposed of.

The Chinese government has previously said all nuclear facilities affected by the earthquake were safe and under control, but did not give any details.

A French nuclear expert said the radioactive sources likely came from materials used in hospitals, factories or in research, not for weapons.

"It doesn't shock me that there would be radioactive items found," particularly hospital equipment, said Thierry Charles, director of plant safety at the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, has seen reports from the Chinese nuclear safety agency.

An unknown number of hospitals were damaged or destroyed in the earthquake. The Sichuan province health department listed 489 major hospitals in areas that were hardest hit.

Companies suffered at least $9.5 billion in damage in last week's quake, the government said Monday.

[faith_in_w]

AL2008, actually its more like effects from three gorges dam. God gave the communists the idea to build that in an effort to smite lots of them over the next few years.

[ozdog88]

God is shaking the Earth there because he hates the anti-religios communists.

He also must hate the Mother Cabrini statue here in Colorado, they just today finished puting the arms and legs back on after a nasty lighting strike from the heavens.

[abigail70]

This woman''s survival is a miracle. Taking an opportunity to get on your soapbox, however, is pathetic.

[al2008-2009]

I%u2019m appalled at the administration%u2019s lack of response to the global warming earthquakes, hurricanes, and cyclones as well. We have no comprehensive strategy in place whatsoever, let alone a detailed plan of action to mitigate the effects of these quakes and cyclones, and mother earth continues to suffer while the administration refuses to go forward and do what%u2019s right for mother earth.
.
How long must we sit idly by while our mother continues to suffer from the warming taking place at a feverish pace? How long must our mother suffer before we have proper c02 taxes put into place? How long must the destruction of mother earth take place before we finally put responsible regulations into effect? How long must we wait until we beef up our corn ethanol production? At least Obama wants to cut c02 pollution by 80%; he is definitely our best hope.
.
We the people call upon our leaders to implement a comprehensive antiglobal warming strategy at once and work in coordination with state and federal officials; these quakes, cyclones and disasters continue to worsen and the quicker we stop the warming the sooner we will see these quakes and storms cease. We need action now.

[observer2020]

faith_in_w: sound like you should keep on praying. If you live in an earthquake area, you will eventually get hit by an earthquake. If you live in tornado alley, you''ll eventually see a tornado, if not sooner. If you live in an area where hurricanes are possible, you''ll eventually see one. Prayer has absolutely nothing to do with it. God helps those who are smart enough to help themselves. Keep praying for someone else to help you and you''ll need more help that you''ll ever get.

[faith_in_w]

cbscrash07, you should thank your neighbors.

[Syndicate]

faith_in_w: If that were true it would have hit my house.

[faith_in_w]

nolalou, thats because hurricanes follow the path of least prayer and all of the good people heeded the warning and left.

[bobkat258]

My God is a loving, merciful, forgiving God, full of grace. Jesus paid for the sins of humankind. Christains who say the God is punishing people need to go back to bible study.

[nolalou]

God is shaking the Earth there because he hates the anti-religios communists. G
Posted by faith_in_w

That''s the same stupid argument made by some after Hurricane Katrina, that it was gods punishment for the sin going on in New Orleans! But if that was the case, god has lousy aim, since the French Quarter was spared, and that''s where most of the ''sin'' goes on!

People in China and Burma are suffering due to natural disasters! These things happen in many places around the world. Stop trying to make it into some stupid argument about punishment from god!

[faith_in_w]

God is shaking the Earth there because he hates the anti-religios communists.

[antidalai]

The persons who set up a fake donation website to steal money donated by us are dirtbags

[lewiston14]

Aftershocks are normal after most quakes. Science and their tools have gotten better but there is still no way to know when or how large. This quake was in a part of China that does not see much activity. Imho they are going to find a very large set of tectonic plates or even a new born volcano still many miles down in the core making its way up. Again IMHO they are the only two ways to produce a 7.8 and that is huge. This is a huge science project for scientist from all over the world to figure out why there.

[juwboy]

Howinhell did they PREDICT a strong aftershock?

[CB_Brooklyn]

A brand new weather disaster related paper by former Clemson University Mechanical Engineering Professor, Dr Judy Wood:


9/11 Weather Anomalies and Field Effects

http://drjudywood.com/articles/erin


A MUST READ. (Most is pictorial)