A woman emerged alive Wednesday after being trapped for nine days in a tunnel following China's earthquake, as the government ordered budget cuts to fund a multi-billion-dollar relief package.
Rescuers plucked to safety the woman who had been stuck in the water tunnel of a hydropower plant in south-western Sichuan province's quake-ravaged town of Shifang, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. Cui Changhui was airlifted to a hospital and her life was not in danger, even though she suffered fractures to her right arm, ribs and lower back, it said, without giving her age.
It was the latest amazing survival story that has given much cheer to many Chinese as they try to cope with the May 12 earthquake that the government said Wednesday had killed or left missing more than 74,000 people. But she was the only person rescued on Wednesday and with hopes fading of finding any more survivors, relief work focused on the desperate plight of the 5.2 million people left homeless.
The Cabinet, in a meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, ordered 70 billion yuan (10 billion dollars) for reconstruction and 25 billion yuan (3.6 billion dollars) for relief operations.
The central government budget would be slashed by five percent this year to allow for the more than 13 billion-dollar package, it said. "We have the determination, the confidence and the capability to overcome all difficulties and obstacles," Wen said, according to a government statement.
The government said the confirmed number of people killed in the 8.0-magnitude tremor had risen to 41,353. But with another 32,666 still listed as missing, the death toll was likely to soar.
Across many cities in Sichuan, bulldozers were levelling ground to set up camps as the stench of death floated above, according to AFP reporters there. Meanwhile, authorities across the quake zone were working frantically to ensure people had access to clean water, a must to avoid potentially deadly epidemics of diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea.
Doctors in the region were also ordered to test all quake survivors who needed medical treatment for a potentially deadly bacterial infection, known as gas gangrene, that has led to 30 people having amputations. There have been no reports of a major outbreak, but gangrene patients have been isolated to stop infections from spreading. China's health ministry has sent more than 3,500 specialists in epidemic control to Sichuan.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised China's relief effort, contrasting it with the "slow" response from military-ruled Myanmar after its massive cyclone earlier this month. "I think that the rescue effort in China has been one that has been heroic and thousands of lives have been saved," Brown said. Chinese state media has predicted that the earthquake will trim 0.2 percentage points this year from the country's soaring growth.