Man found alive in Australian resort rubble
His brother on team trying to rescue him
THREDBO, Australia (CNN) -- Rescuers were painstakingly digging through debris Saturday afternoon, trying to reach a man who was found buried alive beneath the ruins of an Australian ski lodge destroyed two days earlier by a landslide.
The man was identified as Stuart Diver, a ski instructor. He was conscious, alert and talking to his rescuers, who were giving him oxygen and water. However, he reported having little feeling in his body and was believed to be seriously injured.
Diver's brother was part of the rescue team that was digging for him.
The discovery of Diver came after rescuers had nearly given up hope of finding any of the 20 people still missing after a landslide at midnight Wednesday destroyed two ski lodges in the popular resort town about 250 miles (400 km) south of Sydney.
The missing people were believed entombed in the wreckage. Three deaths among the 20 have been confirmed, but only one body has been recovered.
Rescue workers were clawing through the rubble carefully because of fears that shifting debris could injure Diver.
"It's a bit like a house of cards," Rob Raschke, a producer for CNN affiliate Australia Network 7, told CNN.
Rescue relief being sent from Sydney
The rescue was hampered by cold temperatures in Australia, where it is winter and the daytime temperature in Thredbo only gets to about 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit). The rescue team was expected to be relieved by a fresh team being sent from Sydney later Saturday.
It was just after dawn Saturday when rescuers heard muffled sounds and detected muscle movement under a concrete slab. A police spokesman, Senior Constable Mark Hargreaves, said rescuers "went berserk" when they heard the sounds.
They had been increasingly frustrated after two days and nights of digging without finding any survivors. On Friday, police described as "infinitesimally small" the changes that anyone would be found alive.
But after hearing signs of life from Diver, rescuers formed a human chain on the hillside to move heavy debris out of the way. More equipment was being brought in to help, including concrete-cutting saws.
Throughout the ordeal, relatives and friends of those believed trapped have been keeping a grim vigil, watching the search from the facing hillside.
Of the 20 people believed buried in the lodges, 17 are Australians, two are from the United States and one is from New Zealand.
On Friday, an emotional service was held in a chapel at Thredbo, where people were asked to pray for those trapped, their families and the rescue team. A similar service was held in the capital, Canberra.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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