Toddler rescued from under quake landslide

A two-year-old boy was rescued today after surviving for four days buried in a landslide from the powerful quake that ravaged northern Japan .

Rescuers also pulled Yuta Minagawa’s mother, Takako, 39, from the wreckage, but her condition was unknown. A daughter, three-year-old Mayu, was still buried, and her condition was also uncertain.

The family’s white van was swept away in a wave of boulders and earth that pulverised the hillside road they were on when a 6.8-magnitude quake ripped across rural Niigata prefecture on Saturday, killing at least 31 people.

Workers had heard Takako Minagawa’s voice earlier, but officials later said she appeared to have no pulse. She was later pulled from the wreck, strapped to a stretcher and flown to a hospital in a helicopter.

“She was pulled out, but we have not confirmed whether she is alive or not,” said fire brigade spokesman Kosei Takahashi.

Firefighters dug steadily through the rocks and rubble today after hearing Minagawa’s voice in response to their calls. The van had been spotted under hillside rubble yesterday.

Officials were initially jubilant over the discovery.

“It’s like a miracle that they are still alive after four days buried under a serious landslide like that, with huge rocks falling down on them,” said Mikio Kawai, a spokesman for the local government.

Yuta was pulled from the wreckage by the rescuers, covered in mud after four days under the landslide but apparently conscious.

Some officials said both children had been pulled from the wreckage, but later said only Yuta was freed. The boy was flown by helicopter to a hospital.

The family was the focus of intense interest in Japan, with TV stations showing Minagawa’s father’s desperate attempts to track down the family in the post-quake chaos. He was in Tokyo at the time of the quake.

The surprise rescue came hours after a powerful 6.1-magnitude quake rocked the region this morning, rattling already-damaged buildings and terrifying residents.

Homeless people in evacuation centres threw themselves to the floor and screamed in horror as the tremor rumbled through the rural area of Niigata prefecture. A 4.2-magnitude aftershock hit about 25 minutes later.