離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Soldier, others recount rescue efforts
Rescue workers share a simple meal on Sunday near the collapsed Weiguan Jinlong building in Tainan’s Yongkang District, having chosen to forgo the traditional nianyeifan （reunion dinner） with their families on Lunar New Year’s Eve. Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
By Abraham Gerber and Liao Shu-ling / Staff reporters
An article by a soldier taking part in the rescue operations yesterday shed some light on the emotions of those searching for survivors and victims buried in the rubble of the Weiguan Jinlong complex in Tainan’s Yongkang District （永康）.
The article, entitled “Hand of Hope in the Rubble,” posted on Army Headquarters’ Facebook page, detailed an anonymous soldier’s discovery of a small child trapped in the rubble of the 17-story complex, which collapsed after Saturday’s magnitude 6.4 earthquake.
“It is 4am on February 6th, and resounding, urgent whistles shatter the quiet night, as the thud of a hasty stampede of footsteps tramples a night which should have been marked by peace and reunions,” the soldier wrote.
“After boarding a military vehicle and seeing the terrorized expressions on the faces of people lining the road, I am afraid too, and my hands shake as they grip my equipment,” he wrote.
“The dust of the toppled building shocks me when we arrive, and I cannot help wondering how this can possibly be the beautiful old city I was so familiar with,” he wrote.
As he carefully picks his way through the rubble of his assigned area, the soldier sees the face of a small child appear on the screen of his life detector.
“It was a tender face covered with dust and eyes opened wide with fear — but no tears even though a stone was crushing his hand,” he wrote.
He reached down to pat the child’s head, telling him: “Don’t be afraid — we’ll get you out in just a bit.”
Even though he knew he had to think calmly, something about the child’s expression made it impossible for him to hold back tears.
“The child’s eyes were fixed on me as he nodded — as if I was the most important person in his life,” the soldier wrote.
The soldier wrote about the difficulty of staying calm as he continues to search because he feels overwhelmed with sorrow and desperate to see another face on his life detector or hear the cries of someone still trapped.
He said that as he was driven away from the disaster site that night, all he could think about was returning to help.
“I know I am tired, but if you just give me a couple of hours to rest, I absolutely have to throw myself back into the battle to save lives,” he wrote.
Other rescuers also spoke out yesterday.
Wu Tsung-hsien （吳宗憲）, deputy chief of the central division of Tainan’s volunteer firefighters special rescue corps, told of breaking into tears as he rescued a 10-day-old girl on Saturday.
He said he took the baby from her mother’s arms and wrapped her tightly in clothing, even though he knew there was little chance that she would survive, before handing her over to other personnel so that he could return to save her mother.
As he worked to free the woman, he said he could not help but silently cry as he thought about the baby dying, but had no choice except to wipe away the tears and keep working.
The mother was eventually pulled from the rubble.
Cheng Hsiu-ling （鄭秀玲）, a survivor of the collapsed building, posted a thank-you on Facebook to a member of the Tainan City Fire Bureau’s He-wei （和緯） brigade for allowing her to step on his body as she was pulled out so that her bare feet would not be cut by rubble and broken glass.
She said he was a “true hero.”
The bureau said a preliminary check found that the brigade’s drillmaster, Chen Ping-yang （陳炳陽）, told Chen Cheng-hsiung （陳政雄）, a member of its “blackhat” volunteer division, to lie on the ground so Cheng could walk on him to reach another brigade member, who then carried her on his back to her family.
Additional reporting by Wang Chun-chung
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
