ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture--As the hours ticked by and it became less likely that survivors would be found, a "miracle" happened in this city strewn with rubble and debris.
ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture--As the hours ticked by and it became less likely that survivors would be found, a "miracle" happened in this city strewn with rubble and debris.
A 25-year-old man was found alive four days after the magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami struck the Tohoku area on Friday.
He was discovered by a rescue team of firefighters in Ishinomaki's Kadowaki town on Tuesday, on the second floor of a residential building, where he had been swept to by the tsunami.
Around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, passers-by told the rescue team that they heard someone's voice coming from the building. The team heard someone knocking on the door from the second floor, and some groaning.
They made their way up the stairs and found the man, who was still conscious. They told him, "You did well. Are you all right?"
The man answered in a clear voice: "Yes. But my leg hurts."
His driver's license was found 500 meters away from where he was lying. He had apparently been picked up by the tsunami and carried along with the force of the water until he was dumped on the second floor of the building where he was found.
A 68-year-old member of the Ishinomaki firefighter team that awaited the man at the ambulance, said: "It is nearly five days since the earthquake occurred. It is a miracle that he is alive."