A certain unit of the Lanzhou Military Area Command was involved in the rescue. Our reporter Zhou Qingxian took this photograph.
In the rescue process of the Zhouqu mudslide, there was a touching scene: Premier Wen Jiabao came to the excavated rescue hole and learned that there were two trapped civilians inside. He bent down and carefully looked into the hole. Premier Wen shouted loudly to them: "Fellow countrymen, hold on, the soldiers are rescuing you." From under the rubble, the voice of the trapped boy responded: "Premier, please rest assured. I can hold on."
Video: Premier Wen Jiabao spoke words of comfort at the rescue site in Zhouqu to those trapped under the rubble. Source: CCTV News Channel
Inside the hole were a mother and her son. The boy's name was Zhang Xinjian, only 14 years old. To support his mother's survival, he held on until his last breath.
On the 10th day, reporters interviewed the officers and soldiers of a certain unit of the Lanzhou Military Area Command who participated in the rescue operation at the time, and they recounted the rescue situation.
"Teacher, save my mom first"
"Our first task is to rescue survivors," said Colonel Pu Junli of a certain unit of the Lanzhou Military Area Command. They arrived in Zhouqu at 10:58 AM on the 8th and immediately searched for signs of life and rescued survivors. By 3 PM that afternoon, they had successfully saved five survivors.
On the south side of Chengguan Primary School, the soldiers shouted loudly: "Is anyone here?" In response, they heard the groans of life.
The soldiers carefully cleared away the mud and rocks from above, then crawled into the narrow hole and used a jack to lift up the heavy beam.
"We saw a child lying on his side, with a heavy beam pressing on him. A few meters away from the child was a middle-aged woman, whose legs were also crushed by the beam," said Colonel Pu. "The beam trapped both mother and son, but it also created a space for their survival."
"Teacher, save my mom first," the boy addressed the rescue soldiers as teachers, very politely.
"The boy's mother could no longer bear the pain and shouted 'Give me a knife, I don't want to live anymore.'"
"Mom, don't be anxious, everyone is thinking of ways," the boy said like an adult.
"At that moment, we wanted to cry," said Battalion Commander Wu Jianlin of the First Company.
Subsequently, the boy asked for a knife and helped the rescue soldiers cut the beam pressing on his mother, one stroke, two strokes, three strokes...
"We must save them," the soldiers worked hard.
"Premier, please rest assured"
The soldiers were so busy rescuing people that they forgot the exact time Premier Wen Jiabao arrived at the scene.
"At the time, we had four soldiers digging mud and stones inside the hole. Premier Wen shouted towards the hole 'Fellow countrymen, hold on, the soldiers are rescuing you,'" said Colonel Pu.
After a while, the soldiers inside the hole shouted "Give me a jack." Premier Wen quickly bent down and tried to crawl into the hole. Nearby soldiers quickly handed over a jack, which Premier Wen took and passed into the hole.
After a while, when Premier Wen Jiabao saw the woman inside the hole moving, he quickly shouted "Don't move, we will definitely save you."
Subsequently, Premier Wen Jiabao passed a box of milk into the hole. "At that time, the child knew that Premier Wen had come and shouted 'Premier, please rest assured, I can hold on.'"
The boy left
Through four hours of effort by the rescue soldiers, they finally managed to save the boy. Two hours later, the boy's mother was also saved.
"When she was rescued, she probably thought Premier Wen was still on the scene and asked us to help her put on her shoes," said a soldier.
The rescued middle-aged woman was named Dang Bajin, 47 years old. When she was sent to the hospital, she had already gone into shock, her legs swollen like they were filled with air, covered in tension blisters, and her leg muscles severely damaged due to compression.
After the medical staff's full efforts to save her, Dang Bajin finally woke up, and her blood pressure, heart rate, and other vital signs gradually returned to normal. Subsequently, she was transported by helicopter to the General Hospital of the Lanzhou Military Area Command for further treatment.
However, Dang Bajin did not know that despite the medical staff's eight-hour full-effort rescue, due to severe internal organ damage, her son Zhang Xinjian had already left before she woke up.
Zhang Xinjian's last words were: "I want to go home."
"When we pulled him out of the rubble, he remained very strong, possibly to encourage his mother, or possibly inspired by the Premier, who would have thought the result would be like this!" Colonel Pu murmured softly with a low voice.
Premier Wen Jiabao spoke words of comfort at the rescue site in Zhouqu to those trapped under the rubble. Source: CCTV News Channel Play Video