Seventeen people have been rescued as of 4:30 PM Friday from debris in the county seat of Beichuan in southwest China's Sichuan Province, a town where only one in every five people survived Monday's strong earthquake, the Beichuan quake control and relief headquarters said.

The rescued people were receiving medical treatment. Rescuers were searching for other stranded residents, the headquarters said.

Among the 17 was Feng Shaorong, a businessman in his 40s who was saved at 3:15 PM Friday, nearly 97 hours after Monday's earthquake.

Zhang Yan, a 36-year-old woman pharmacist, was rescued from debris at 2:36 PM Friday. She fell into coma and People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers carried her on the back, rushing to a nearby medical center.

A 72-year-old woman named Deng Zhongqun was found by PLA soldiers after being stranded at her badly damaged house on a hill for days. She was hurt by a girder and depended on nuts for living during the past four days.

"Thank the soldiers! My weight is 65 kilograms and they carried me in turn on the back, walking miles to reach the medical station," said Deng.

Beichuan County seat has a population of more than 20,000 before the earthquake. Thus far, more than 4,000 people managed to escape, over 3,000 were confirmed dead as of Wednesday, while the others are reported missing.

(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2008)