Haiti girl, 16, found alive in quake rubble
Haiti capital Port-au-Prince has been left devastated by the earthquake
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Thursday, 28, Jan 2010 09:08
By Richard James.
A teenage girl has been pulled alive from the rubble in the Haiti capital of Port-au-Prince over two weeks after the country was struck by a devastating earthquake.
Rescue workers said Darlene Etienne, 16, had been discovered under the remains of a house on Wednesday suffering from dehydration, but generally in good health having survived by drinking bath water.
The rescue came 15 days after a 7.0-magnitude quake destroyed large parts of Haitian capital, with as many as 200,000 people believed to have been killed.
At the weekend the Haitian government announced search and rescue operations had come to an end, despite the fact survivors were still being recovered from the rubble.
On Tuesday, the US military rescued a man from the ruins of a building in Port-au-Prince. The 31-year-old was reported to have been left trapped in one of the quake's aftershocks almost two weeks ago.
Since January 12th some 130 people are said to have been pulled alive from the rubble.
Describing the operation to recover Darlene, rescuer Claude Fuilla told the Associated Press new agency: "She couldn't really talk to us or say how long she'd been there but I think she'd been there since the earthquake.
"I don't think she could have survived even a few more hours."
The 16-year-old was given water and oxygen before being taken to hospital.
Around 1.5 million people are believed to have been left homeless in the worst earthquake to strike Haiti in 200 years.
Millions around the country remain in desperate need of aid as the international relief effort remains painful slow in delivering basic supplies such as food, water and shelter.