Rescuers pull girl, 17, from earthquake rubble

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - French rescuers pulled a teenage girl from the rubble of a home near the destroyed St. Gerard University yesterday, a stunning recovery 15 days after the earthquake.

Darlene Etienne, near death from dehydration and a broken leg, was taken to a French military field hospital and then to a hospital ship, groaning through an oxygen mask with her eyes open in a lost stare.

"She's alive!" said paramedic Paul Francois-Valette, who accompanied her to the hospital.

Her family said Etienne, 17, had just started studying when the disaster struck, trapping dozens of students and staff in the rubble of school buildings, hostels and nearby homes.

Neighbors heard a voice coming from the rubble and a search and rescue team arrived yesterday. Rescuer Claude Fuilla walked along the dangerously crumbled roof and saw a little bit of dust-covered black hair in the rubble. He cleared some debris and managed to reach the young woman.

The team dug out a hole big enough to give her some oxygen and water. She had a very weak pulse, but within 45 minutes they managed to remove her, covered in dust.

- AP