Rescuers pulled a man alive from the rubble on Saturday 11 days after Haiti’s devastating earthquake, raising hopes of finding more survivors even after the government called off search efforts.
Wismond Exantus, 25, (foto) said he survived his ordeal in the ruins of the grocer’s shop where he worked by drinking Coca-Cola and eating snacks, a rare tale of hope from a disaster that has claimed more than 112,000 lives.
His rescue came as thousands of survivors wept outside the capital’s shattered cathedral for the funeral of the archbishop of Port-au-Prince in a moving ceremony that symbolized the deep mourning of the Caribbean nation.
“I feel good,” Mr. Exantus told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Creole from his hospital bed after French, American and Greek search and rescue teams removed him from the debris on a stretcher.
“I survived by drinking Coca-Cola. I drank Coca-Cola every day, and I ate some little tiny things,” he said.
Mr. Exantus’ brother said he had been unable to approach the shop, in a dangerous area plagued by looters, because of the police. His family eventually alerted a Greek rescue team to his cries deep under the remains of the shop.
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