More than a quarter of a century after China's 1976 Tangshan earthquake, a
group of survivors are giving back by doing all they can to help victims of the
May 12 earthquake in Sichuan.
As professional rescuers race against time
to pull people out from beneath the rubble, 13 farmers - also known as the
"Thirteen Chivalrous Men from Tangshan" - have helped saved 25 children and
continue to aid survivors in the aftermath of the disaster.
Song zhiyong (second from right) and fellow villagers from
Tangshan help transport relief supplies in Anxian county, Sichuan province May
18, 2008. [Xinhua]
The heroes - Song Zhiyong and his friends and
relatives from Dongbalipu village in Tangshan, Hebei province, - all survived
northern China's 7.8-magnitude earthquake over three decades ago.
The
Tangshan group last week pulled some 20 kids out from a collapsed school in
Beichuan county. At one site, it took Song three hours to dig a small hole and
clear the bricks needed to free three young girls.
After carrying out the
bodies of roughly 100 victims, Song and his team continued on to Anxian county
of Mianyang city.
Since Monday, they have spent their days transporting
relief supplies and helping quake victims set up tents. Song told a local
reporter it is not too cold at night, so their group spends most nights out in
the open.
"We are fine," he said. We'll fight wherever the headquarters
direct us to."
The father of a 3-year-old says he has no time to think
about his family.
"As a survivor of the Tangshan earthquake, I am very
sad for Sichuan people. I have no other choice, but to do anything I can to
help."
Song's team previously moved the whole nation when they joined
relief efforts in February, when a rare heavy snowstorm swept across southern
China.
On the eve of the Spring Festival - with shovels and pickaxes -
they set out for Chenzhou in Hunan province.
The storm caused a 13-day
power outage in Chenzhou, and several districts were without water for
days.
The farmers spent long days clearing piles of snow off a road
leading to a power transmission tower on the mountain.
They did not utter
a single complaint about the harsh conditions, but instead laughed at the local
cuisine, which used hot peppers in every dish.
While Song and his fellow
villagers were the only volunteers in Chenzhou, the Sichuan earthquake has drawn
numerous volunteers.
Like Song and his team, many of the relief workers
in Sichuan are survivors or orphans of the Tangshan quake.
The Tangshan
quake resulted in a death toll of 240,000 and left some 4,000 children
orphaned.
The death toll for Sichuan's quake currently hovers around
41,000 while 32,000 others are still missing.
|
