[jason]

Rescuers have found a man alive under the rubble days after a giant earthquake rocked Indonesia.

The search party discovered the man as they reached thousands of homeless and hungry victims on remote islands of the country's Sumatra region.


The teams scrambled to free the man from under a partially destroyed three-storey house on Nias Island after hearing his cries for help.

A rescuer said: "The man was saying 'Help, help, give me water'."

Rescue teams had called off their search in Nias but the man's family had persisted and employed labourers to dig through his house.

After a seven-hour operation Hendra Ho Keng, 42, was stretchered off for treatment as his family wept for joy.

Rescuer Omar Flores said: "It's a miracle, it's a miracle. I can't believe what is happening in my heart and mind right now."

The survivor's brother Kok Ciong said: "We had given up hope. Look, we had even provided coffins."

The man had been buried with his wife and children, who are presumed dead.

Thousands of people have been made homeless and hundreds killed by the 8.7 magnitude earthquake which struck on Monday.

The quake devastated the islands of Nias, Banyak and Simeulue, which were already recovering from the Boxing Day tsunami disaster.