Just a piece of news in TNP that I wanted to share...
Source: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,179985,00.html?
RESCUERS expected the worst. What was left of a white Toyota car
was scrap metal about half a metre in height.
On Saturday morning in Shenzhen, China, a driver had lost
control of a lorry carrying soil. It then flipped sideways and
landed on top of the Toyota next to it.
The impact crushed the car and soil was spilled all over it.
But a touching sight greeted the rescuers after the soil was
scooped away and cranes lifted the lorry.
What they saw was a woman leaning over from the driver's seat to
form a protective shield over her child who was sitting in the
front passenger seat.
The mother, who is in her 30s, was dead.
But the baby girl, who's about a year old, was alive.
The mother probably bore the brunt of the crash. The air trapped
between her body and her baby probably also helped save the girl
from suffocating beneath the spilled soil.
As a result, the girl suffered only from minor wounds on her
head, reported Shenzhen's Daily Sunshine newspaper.
Soil-laden lorry flips and lands on top of Toyota next to
it. Mum shields child with her body.
Cheers erupted among the rescuers as she was carried out of the
wreck after the two-hour rescue operation. She was rushed to the
hospital for a thorough checkup.
A woman in her 50s, who was in the back seat, also died.
A witness, known only as Mr Zhang told Daily Sunshine that it
was about 10.50am. He rushed to the car after it had been crushed
and shouted at its occupants.
He said he heard a female voice responding. But by the time the
ambulance arrived, there was no longer any response.
The city's traffic police head, Mr Liu Fengjun, rushed to the
site to direct rescue operations.
Initially, they had planned to tow the lorry away, but it was
not feasible as it was too heavy. Rescue workers then thought of
using cranes to lift the lorry up on both ends. But that idea was
also abandoned as the bulk of the soil in the lorry may spill and
bury the whole car instead.
In the end, they decided to remove the soil in the lorry first
before lifting it up.
Those who had spades and hoes started digging away at the
mountain of soil.
Rescuers lift lorry with crane, remove top part of car to
find baby alive beneath mum's body.
Mr Liu, who did not have any tools, jumped in to help, scooping
with his bare hands, while shouting, 'Keep digging!'.
After 15 minutes, rescue workers managed to scoop away most of
the soil. Then the cranes were activated.
At about 12.30pm, the cranes started to lift the lorry. It took
them three attempts before they were successful.
Then, as rescue workers rushed in to the trapped occupants in
the car, they hit another snag - a metal beam from the lorry was in
the way. The hydraulic cutter was called in to remove it.
Meanwhile, a rescue worker started shouting at the car's occupants.
But there was still no response.
Then, after removing the top part of the car, they were greeted
by the touching sight of the mother shielding the baby.
The lorry driver, a man in his 20s, had been detained to assist
in investigations.
At about 1pm, traffic on the road resumed. The baby's father
rushed to the hospital at about 2pm to take her home, but was too
distraught to be interviewed.
