A man who has been pulled alive from the rubble of a marketplace in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince may have been trapped there since the devastating earthquake struck 28 days ago.
The 28-year-old, identified as Evans Muncie, was found under the remains of the Croix Bossal market where he sold rice, and according to reports he may have been there since the 7.0 magnitude quake levelled the city on January 12, killing over 200,000 people.
Mr Muncie was discovered by people who had been digging at the marketplace and he was taken to an American field hospital in Port-au-Prince where he was treated for severe dehydration and malnutrition. Doctors said Mr Muncie was very disorientated and at times thought he was still under the rubble while he was being treated at the tent hospital.
It is not clear exactly how long Mr Muncie was trapped, however his family said he had been missing since January 12.
Related Links
"He was emaciated. He hadn't had anything in quite some time. He had open wounds that were festering on both of his feet," Dr Mike Connelly told the American news network CNN.
According to CNN, Mr Muncie told doctors that somebody in a white coat had occasionally brought him water, however it is not known whether or not he had been hallucinating. He also said he could hear bulldozers around him working to demolish quake-struck buildings while he lay underneath the rubble nearby.
Mr Muncie’s story has not been verified, and Dr Connelly said Mr Muncie must have had access to water to have survived the entire four weeks trapped under a building.
"Initially, I'm sure he had his senses with him, so maybe he was able to find some kind of resources," Dr Connelly told CNN.
The network showed photographs of Mr Muncie, looking extremely emaciated, being treated by doctors.
His mother told the television network: "I thought he was dead, but God kept him from dying".
Despite the Haitian government calling for an end to search and rescue operations on January 23, survivors continued to be pulled from the rubble in the following days. On January 27 Haitian teenager Daline Etienne was rescued alive from beneath the debris of her house, 15 days after the quake had forced the building to collapse on top of her. The rescue of the 16-year-old, who appeared in relatively good health, was deemed a miracle.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7020176.ece
I still believe in miracles... So people's might be still alive under rubble?
