A silver lining has emerged from one of the darkest clouds: five days after Nepal experienced its most devastating earthquake in 80 years—a magnitude-7.8 that has killed more than 5,500 people and destroyed neighborhoods and cities—a teen boy was found alive under the rubble of a collapsed building.
Pemba Tamang was, miraculously, pulled out from beneath a seven-story building that collapsed in Kathmandu, as crowds above cheered. The rescue effort reportedly took hours and Police Officer L.B. Basnet had to crawl into a small gap in the rubble to lift the teen out.
Tamang, 18, immediately thanked his hero and indicated that he was incredibly thirsty. He was given water but, from what we hear, didn't require much medical attention. The most amazing part of the story is that he was lucid enough to provide his name and address. Given the fact that he was likely hit by rubble and trapped for days with no food, water, and little oxygen, this is nothing short of a miracle.
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Sadly, many others in Nepal haven't been as lucky. At least 10,000 people are reportedly injured after the quake and many have been left homeless—10,000 homes have been completely destroyed, while 530,000 have been damaged.
On Wednesday, the United Nations announced it would be providing $415 million in emergency appeal to help those in need, but with monsoon season coming, everyone is understandably on edge and worried that further damage will occur in Nepal before things get better.
Our hearts are with the survivors and rescue teams in Nepal and we hope we hear more stories like this one in coming days.
Are you surprised this teen survived five days under rubble?
Image via David Ramos/Getty Images