CRIES FROM THE RUBBLE

Rescuers silenced cranes, bulldozers and jackhammers this morning in the earthquake-ravaged city of Neftegorsk. During an hour of watchful silence they listened for the cries of survivors among the more than 2,000 residents still buried under the rubble. It worked. As one voice after another was heard, 33 more people were found and rescued, bringing to 372 the total number of survivors so far pulled from under the concrete and brick rubble. By nightfall, rescue teams were working by searchlight, looking for any sign of life, as sub-zero temperatures gripped the town on the island of Sakhalin, narrowing the chances that many more victims can survive for long.