Firefighters rescue elderly couple from collapsed home in southern China
Husband and wife, both in their nineties, buried under piles of rubble after property crumpled in heavy rains
A husband and wife, both aged in their nineties, had to be rescued from the crumpled remains of their home in southern China after it collapsed in heavy rains, local media reported.
Firefighters in Mengshan county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, went to the rescue last week after several properties failed to withstand the adverse weather conditions, news portal People.com.cn reported.
The elderly couple was not named in the report, but it said it took the firefighters just half an hour to locate and free them from the rubble. The wife suffered injuries to her arms and legs, while her husband mostly had cuts and bruises.
The woman’s injuries were more serious as she was trapped at a deeper level, the report said. One of the firefighters was quoted as saying she was confused and disorientated when she was found.
The report said the nonagenarians are being treated in hospital. It did not give their exact ages, but said the wife was slightly older than her husband.
A local authority spokesperson was quoted as saying that many dilapidated houses in the area had succumbed to the heavy rains that had been ongoing for over a week.
