(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-20 11:41

Amid stories of quake rescuers' heroism and victims' survival, one little boy's steely resolve to triumph over the tragedy has captured the imagination of a nation.

Yang Weihua, chief of the photography department of Mianyang Evening News, heard a weak voice calling for help in the debris of Beichuan county last Tuesday.

Three-year-old Langzhen raises his right arm to salute his saviors and said "Uncles, thank you" when the soldiers lifted him to safety. [China Daily]

They found a boy, about 3 years old, trapped in a small space. Yang and three soldiers dug through the rubble with their bare hands for half an hour to reach the child.

When he was brought out, rescuers found out the boy's left arm was broken. He had been buried in the darkness for about 17 hours.

As the soldiers wrapped his left arm and lifted him to safety, the boy raised his right arm to salute his saviors.

"Uncles, thank you," he said.

Yang's mobile phone received thousands of calls on the day the picture of the boy at the scene was published. Many online communities launched searches of the child. People wanted to know more about the boy named Langzhen, which in Tibetan means "holy mountain".

"This is by far the most touching picture I've seen," writes a netizen named "I heard love has come".

"Little Langzhen is the epitome of all the children suffering in the earthquake. Amid the tragedy, his salute surprises us, makes our hearts ache but also wins our respect.

"From him, we see the hope of our nation!"

Langzhen has been safely sent to another hospital, media reported. The boy's grandparents are alive, although nothing has been heard about his father, a police officer, or his mother, an office clerk.