(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-05-20 17:44

Eighty People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers rescued 300 Tibetans who were trapped in Si'er village in Sichuan Province on May 18.

"Soldiers are my life savers," said a villager, who gave them Tibetan best wishes.

The soldiers trekked 120 kilometers for 33 hours nonstop passing through numerous mountains and valleys.

At an elevation of over 4,000 meters, Si'er is the highest, most remote village in Sichuan. The whole village, which was inhabited by Tibetans, was leveled by the earthquake.

Over 300 villagers were stranded in the mountains for five straight days without enough food, drinking water or medicine. Dozens of them were badly injured by the 8.0-magnitude earthquake. Helicopters couldn't reach the area because of its topography.

As soon as they were assigned the task, the 80 soldiers started out on foot right away, backpacking food and medicine.

On the way to Si'er, they didn't pay much attention to the calluses on their feet from walking so much, or the cuts they got on their arms and hands from the bushes and trees.

When the soldiers finally made it to Si'er, they helped the villagers evacuate the area. Some soldiers carried the elderly and children on their backs, others carrying the villagers on stretchers. Because they had to climb down the mountain, the soldiers and villagers had to crawl down carefully on their hands and feet.

After three hours, they took the 16 badly-injured and other 312 Tibetans to safety. Tents were then set up for the badly-injured, and all of them were saved from the brink of death.

"Thank you CPC, long live PLA!" many Tibetans hailed.