A teenager who became trapped in the ruins of a building destroyed by Nepal's earthquake was found alive five days after the catastrophic event, NBC News reported.
Using saws, jacks and shovels, rescuers from a USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team among other agencies toiled away for six hours Thursday to free the trapped teen. He was finally pulled from a tiny hole and given water and an IV before being loaded into an ambulance.
The boy was covered in dirt but was aware and "talking," rescuers told NBC News.
"It's a miracle, a true miracle," an unnamed police force general told the station. "He came out and he's okay."
Saturday's magnitude 7.8 earthquake was the worst natural disaster to strike the nation in decades, with over 5,500 people killed, over 11,000 injured and some 70,000 homes destroyed, according to the BBC.
Rescue efforts are ongoing, with other survivors like the boy being found after spending days trapped beneath the rubble. One 27-year-old man said he was forced to drink his own urine before he was saved.
The building the teen was trapped in did not crush him, USAID team leader Andrew Olvera told NBC News. Instead he was confined to a concrete "box" between two floors. Experts in structural engineering were needed to help free him.
"We have buildings that are leaning, so there' s a lot of danger, but when there's a live victim and a potential to save someone we will risk it all," Olvera said.
"He was not crushed, but being in there for six days with on food, no water, no nutrition was obviously very taxing...so he was very fortunate."
