Teen survives nine days under rubble in Japan

A teenager and his grandmother survived for nine days after their house collapsed around them in Japan's recent earthquake, which has left more than 30,000 people dead, injured or missing.

Jin Abe, 16, and his 80-year-old grandmother were on the top floor of a two-storey wooden house in the city of Ishinomaki when the earthquake happened on 11 March. The building fell, trapping them under piles of rubble.

The teenager wasn’t able to leave the building for nine days but was able to get blankets, food and water to help him and his grandmother survive. He finally crawled out of the rubble and found rescue workers, who took him and his grandmother to a hospital.

“We heard people outside but we couldn't escape,” Jin Abe told reporters. “I managed to push away the rubble and work my way up to the roof through a small hole. I'm glad we survived.”