Survivor Is Rescued From Rubble of Australian Slide
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THREDBO, Australia — Rescuers on Saturday miraculously plucked a survivor from a concrete tomb beneath the rubble of a 3-day-old landslide at a ski village in New South Wales.
Ski instructor Stuart Diver escaped serious injury and was said to be in high spirits after his rescue from deep within the wreckage of two ski lodges engulfed in Wednesday night’s landslide at Thredbo village.
But as Diver was treated for frostbite at a hospital in nearby Canberra late Saturday, rescuers unearthed more bodies from the mangled heap of concrete, twisted metal, dirt and splintered trees at Thredbo, southwest of Sydney. Nine bodies have been found.
So far, Diver is the only survivor of 20 people buried when the side of a mountain in this tiny ski hamlet gave way, dropping tons of earth onto two lodges where tourists and resort workers were sleeping.
Of those caught in the slide, 17 were Australians, two Americans and one a New Zealander. None of the bodies has been identified by authorities yet. Still missing in the debris is Diver’s wife, Sally.
Canberra Hospital’s emergency specialist, Dr. Bob Dunn, said Diver might need surgery for frostbite.
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