At least 22 lives have been lost in a multiple building collapse in Zhejiang, East China, but a glimmer of hope has shone through the darkness today.
A three-year-old girl has been found alive in the rubble, in the arms of her father, who sacrificed his life to save her.
According to local reports, little Wu Ningxi survived the building collapse with only minor injuries when her father used his body as a shield to protect her.
UPDATE: 22 dead, 6 injured after yesterday's buildings collapse in E #China's #Wenzhou. Search and rescue phase complete. pic.twitter.com/xnifwXE8IP
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) October 11, 2016
Sadly, the father died. His wife, who was found close by to her husband and daughter, also lost her life in the accident.
A rescuer told a local media outlet: “The child was able to survive entirely thanks to the fact that her dad used his own flesh and blood to prop up a life-saving space for his daughter.”
Little Wu is now said to be in a stable condition, along with six other people who survived the building collapse.
Experts in the area believe the collapse – which involved a number of buildings, each between three and six storeys high – was the result of poor quality of construction along with heavy rainfall.
We are thinking of all those affected by the tragedy.
