US couple found alive, buried under rubbish

An elderly US couple missing for three weeks were found alive buried under mounds of rubbish in their crammed apartment.

Chicago police said their home on the city’s South Side was “packed from floor to ceiling” with rubbish and may have to be condemned.

Chicago Fire Department paramedics conducting a health check found the stench so overpowering they had to don hazardous materials suits before going inside the home.

A Fire Department spokesman said the man and woman in their 70s were taken to Jackson Park Hospital in critical condition.