Haiti Survivor Rescued from Rubble after 11 Days

Jean-Pierre is seen wriggling out of an opening in the rubble no wider than his shoulders, a smile on his face as he sees his rescuers for the first time. Photo by cnn.com

French rescue workers pulled a 24-year-old man alive from the rubble of a hotel in Haiti eleven days after an earthquake devastated much of the country, CNN reported.

Wismond Jean-Pierre, who had no visible injuries but was severely dehydrated, was immediately loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital for treatment.

Lt. Col. Christophe Renou, a rescuer with the French team, called the three-hour effort "a miracle" as he was briefly overcome with emotion. Other members of the team -- assisted by American and Greek workers -- were seen weeping with joy following the rescue.

"This is God," Frank Louvier, the chief of the French rescue team, said as he pointed to the sky.

The man's brothers said they reported hearing tapping from within the ruins of the Hotel Napoli Inn for several days but struggled to get authorities to the scene. A Greek journalist said he alerted Greek rescue workers after hearing the tapping for himself.

Jean-Pierre was a clerk at a store in the hotel. After the building collapsed, he searched in the dark and found some soda that sustained him, his brother said. His rescuers told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that cookies and beer were also found in the pocket after Jean-Pierre was rescued.

In video shot by French Civil Protection, Jean-Pierre is seen wriggling out of an opening in the rubble no wider than his shoulders, a big smile on his face as he sees his rescuers for the first time.

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