12 year old boy survives being buried alive in a landslide for three hours after earthquake

A 12-year-old boy in the Solomon Islands survived being buried in a landslip on the island of Ranongga for three hours before being dug out by villagers.

Epakaera Neubery was playing football on a cliff above the shoreline at his village of Mundo when last Monday's 8.0 earthquake struck causing landslides all around the settlement of 600 people.

The landslide cut away the village green and took the boy tens of metres down to the beach where he was trapped with only his feet showing. His mother Lovelyn Nuebery and other villagers searched for three hours before he was found.

The boy today said he cried and thought he was going to die - he was unconscious when he was pulled out.

His mother said she thanked God when he was found alive. She said she thought he was buried and there was no hope.

"After this incident, I think to move the village is the best idea," she added.

An Australian Red Cross nurse today applied band aids to the boy's wounds but he was otherwise fine.

An 11-year-old boy and a 43-year-old woman buried in nearby landslides did not survive.

Source: SMH