NEWS: Woman Rescued Two Months After Kashmir Quake, page 1

A 40 year old woman Naqsha Bibi, has been rescued from a small cavity in the rubble of her house more than two months after the devastating Kashmir earthquake that killed around 70000 people. Rescuers were not looking for the woman but found her in a tiny space of what was left of her kitchen when they went to the house to clear debris. There was a trickle of fresh water in the tiny space and rotting food was found near to where her body was cramped up in a foetal position. It is understood she is slowly recovering and being fed liquids although she can not move her limbs out of their cramped position or speak properly as yet. The woman weighs 35 kilos and her family is amazed at her survival after they thought she was in another camp or had perished along with many of her neighbours when the hillside collapsed into the river nearby.

news.bbc.co.uk

The space where she was found was not even big enough for her to stretch her arms or legs.

Over the 63 days that she spent in this grave of sorts - her muscles frozen in a crouching position.

Even on the hospital bed now, she maintains her embryonic position and doctors say she will need extensive physiotherapy to return to her normal self again.

What remains a mystery - at least till Naqsha Bibi is able to tell her story - is how she managed to survive for so long.

Faiz Din says there were some traces of food, most of it rotting, in the kitchen when he found her.

The air in the tiny space was fresh, which implies that some airway must have remained open through the debris.

And there was a trickle of water on one side of the kitchen, probably from one of several tiny streams that dot the Kamsar area.

"We started clearing the debris of her house on 10 December, mainly to pull the iron sheets off the collapsed roof to build ourselves a shelter," says Faiz Din.

"But as we cleared one side of the house, some of the debris fell away exposing the cavity where she was holed up."
e could possibly survive for such a long time, he said, "medical science may struggle to accept it but there are miracles in this world, you know."

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This is amazing. It is great to see good news stories like this one come out of the region. It has taken this lady great strength and courage to survive such a long time in such a small space.

[edit on 13-12-2005 by Mayet]