NINE DAYS after they were believed killed by the tsunami, an elderly woman and her teenage grandson have been found alive in the rubble of their home in northeast Japan.
The 80-year-old woman and the boy survived by eating yoghurt and other scraps of food salvaged from the fridge after being trapped in their home in Ishinomaki, one of the worst-hit coastal cities.
They were found by police when Jin Abe (16) called out for help from the roof of their residence after managing to pull himself from the debris. His grandmother, Sumi Abe, is disabled and could not leave the property unaided.
When she was found, yesterday she had lost feeling in at least one of her legs. The pair are now receiving medical treatment in the city’s Red Cross hospital.
The astonishing rescue has given a much-needed boost to emergency workers amid a growing death toll from Japan’s deadliest disaster since the second World War. – (Guardian service)