Three days of searching through the ruins of a massive landslide in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen finally revealed a survivor at around 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 23, as relief workers dug out Tian Zeming, a 21-year-old who had survived by gnawing on roasted melon seeds and grapefruit.
Tian (whose age was also given as 19 in other reports) was able to engage in simple conversation when he was dug out, ending a 67-hour ordeal. He is still very weak, however, and his right leg has begun showing early signs of gangrene after being crushed under concrete and rubble, according to Chinese media reports.
He pointed rescuers to a second individual nearby, but doctors found he was already dead.
The leader of the rescue team, part of the local paramilitary force, said it took them 61 hours of excavating to find Tian at a depth of around 15 meters (49 feet). “I’m here! I’m here!” Tian yelled, his hand grasped by rescuers as they cleared the rubble around him. Tian had moved to Shenzhen only about 10 days earlier, taking up a position at a local hardware company.
