8-year-old girl pulled from sewer after 7 hours as floods batter southern China

A girl was found alive and unharmed more than seven hours after heavy rain swept her into a sewer in China, rescuers said.

HONG KONG — A girl was found alive and unharmed more than seven hours after heavy rain swept her into a sewer in China, rescuers said Tuesday.

On her way home from school Monday, “rushing waters” pulled the 8-year-old into a drainage ditch while she attempted to pick up a lost shoe, firefighters in the southern province of Guizhou, said in a statement.

The girl survived by holding onto a horizontal bar around 32 feet down in the sewage pipe, the statement said. Trapped for more than seven hours, she was soaked from head to toe but showed “no obvious serious injuries,” it said.

“This first-grade girl fought against the pitch-black darkness, coldness and constant fear with amazing calmness and perseverance,” the statement added. “We give a thumbs-up to this brave girl.”

A girl in China is rescued from a storm drain after intense flash flooding.China National Fire and Rescue AdministrationBy Thursday, at least six people had died and tens of thousands more were evacuated by the heavy rains that have battered China's southern provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Hubei since June 17, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. Widespread flooding has brought down buildings and infrastructure.