WATCH ABOVE: 101-year-old Nepalese man rescued from earthquake rubble
A 101-year-old Nepalese man was rescued from the rubble of his home one week after a devastating earthquake rocked the country, leaving more than 7,000 people dead.
The man, identified as Phanchu Tamang, was rescued from a village just over 60 kilometres away from Kathmandu, according to a tweet from Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Center on Sunday.
Agence France Presse reported that Tamang had only minor injuries and was brought to a hospital in Nuwakot district, northwest of the capital city Kathmandu.
AFP reported that three women were also found alive over the weekend in Sindhupalchowk, one of the districts hardest hit by the quake.
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READ MORE: Massive reconstruction efforts needed after Nepal earthquake
Nepal’s government had said one day prior to the discovery that the chances of finding survivors in the aftermath of the earthquake were “extremely slim.”
Laxi Dhakal, a Nepal Home Ministry official, said hopes of finding survivors had faded.
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“Unless they were caught in an air pocket, there is not much possibility,” Dhakal said before the new survivors were found.
Other amazing stories of survival emerged last week including the rescue of a four-month-old baby who had been trapped for 20 hours and a 15-year-old boy who managed to survive for five days stuck in the crevice of a collapsed building.
International aid groups have rushed to help Nepal, where the death toll from the quake has surpassed 7,300.
READ MORE: Long road lies ahead in rebuilding Nepal after earthquake: Canadian officials
On Monday, Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) increased its relief efforts sending a fourth Canadian Forces C-17 transport plane carrying personnel and humanitarian aid to Nepal.
Since the April 25 earthquake, the rescue effort in Nepal has involved 4,050 rescue workers from more than 30 different countries to help provide emergency medical care and distribute food and other necessities.
The United Nations has estimated the quake, which measured between 7.8 and 8.1 on the Richter scale, has affected more than 8.1 million people in one of the world’s poorest countries, crippling its infrastructure and destroying ancient cultural sites.
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