Agencies Posted online: Monday, October 10, 2005 at 1320 hours IST Updated: Monday, October 10, 2005 at 1325 hours IST
Balakot, Pakistan, October 10: A six-year-old boy was pulled alive from the rubble in north-western Pakistan today, two days after a massive earthquake brought his school crashing down, an AFP photographer said.
Volunteers and relatives of hundreds of parents at the Shaheen Public School in the devastated town of Balakot helped to get the child out of the debris, the AFP photographer said from the scene.
It was unclear what condition the boy was in after his ordeal or what injuries he had suffered.
Residents have said up to 400 boys and girls were trapped in the school when it was toppled by the 7.6 magnitude quake that struck at 8:50 am (0920 IST) on Saturday.
People gathered at the site to help in the rescue effort said they had heard the voices of a few girls who were still trapped under the debris. "We hope to recover them and others alive," a volunteer said.
No rescue workers apart from a few from a private charity have reached the town of 30,000 and people have been digging at the wreckage to find their children.
In Balakot, two schools and an Islamic madrasa or seminary were toppled, with nearly 1,000 students thought to be buried in total.
