TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Pinned in the dark under tons of shifting concrete rubble, mangled steel and glass shards, Sun Chi-kuang had all but given up hope.
"By the fourth day, I thought I was already dead," Sun said from his hospital bed after emerging mostly unscathed from his five-day entombment.Tossed into a black pocket of dust-filled air when a giant earthquake sent him tumbling from his third-floor Taipei apartment, Sun was lying practically motionless when he heard a strange voice -- one that he said helped save his life.
"I had a dream. Someone told me there was a hole behind the refrigerator," said Sun, who on Sunday was freed by rescuers from a rubble mountain that was once the 12-story Sungshan Hotel.
"The voice said the hole wasn't big but it was large enough for a skinny person to fit through," said the extremely lean Sun, recounting his harrowing experience Monday.
Sun and his 25-year-old brother, who was freed from the same rubble moments later, were the latest survivors of a massive 7.6-magnitude quake that ripped through Taiwan on September 21, killing more than 2,000 people and destroying 12,000 buildings.
The brothers' rescue revived hopes for families of some 50 people still buried in the Sungshan wreckage, where 48 have been found dead and only corpses have been found since their rescue.
Sun said he and his brother conversed to keep their spirits up, exchanging words of support -- and even gifts.
"On the second day, my brother said it was his birthday and that nobody had ever celebrated it with him. I told him: 'I'll help you celebrate it.' Then I took off my necklace and passed it to him."
Sun said he ate apples from the refrigerator and drank juice from a bottle he found by groping around in the dark.
Doctors said both brothers were in good condition and are expected to make full recoveries.