Miracle Surgery Of A Turtle Boy

In Pic : The turtle-like growth on eight-year-old Maimaiti Hali's back.

A YOUNG boy with a shell-like growth on his back has had life-changing surgery after he was dubbed "turtle boy" by cruel bullies.

Eight-year-old Maimaiti Hali had the growth removed by surgeons in a miracle two-hour operation, The Sun reports.

Doctors at the Urumqi Military General Hospital in China's Xinjiang province said they had used skin grafts from the boy's scalp and legs to replace the removed growth.

Dad Maimaiti Musai said: "We were told surgery wasn't possible when he was very young so we waited. But the growth got bigger and harder and became like a turtle shell.

"People bullied him and we were determined to end it. He is such a good and brave boy and he never complained. We are so glad that he is now on the mend."

In Pic : Eight-year-old Maimaiti Hali has life-changing surgery to remove a turtle-like growth from his back.

Chief surgeon Ye Xiangpo said: "The skin we removed was as thick as a bull's hide.

"We used scalp hair on the graft because it grows back very quickly. We expect him to make a full recovery."

Mainmait, from Heping, northern China, said: "It was a bit painful, but I won't worry about other kids laughing at me any more.

"I am looking forward to going out in the sun without my shirt on and to going swimming with my friends."

Giant Sinkhole Swallows City Building

A giant sinkhole larger than a street intersection has swallowed a three-storey building and a house in Guatemala, as residents reel from a storm that has killed at least 146 people across Central America.

In the north of Guatemala City, the giant sinkhole opened up in the wake of Tropical Storm Agatha, reportedly killing a security guard although local officials have not confirmed the death.

A similar hole opened up nearby last year and residents blamed the sinkhole on a poor sewage drainage system underground.

In towns outside the capital, people caked in dirt searched for their loved ones as the stench of mud and sewage from flooded drains filled the air and emergency workers urged survivors to leave ruined houses and go to shelters.

The first-named storm of the 2010 Pacific hurricane season, Agatha hit Guatemala on Saturday, dumping more than one metre of rain in the mountainous west of the country and in neighbouring El Salvador.

"I've got no one to help me. I watched the water take everything," said Carlota Ramos in the town of Amatitlan near the Guatemalan capital.

Her brick house was almost completely swamped by mud.

As the sun came out, exhausted rescue workers hauled away stones and tree trunks from crushed houses as they fought to reach wounded people and find the dozens still missing.

"We just have shovels and picks. We don't have any machinery to dig," said firefighter Mario Cruz, who had been working almost non-stop since Saturday.

Other rescuers walked for several hours along muddy tracks to reach trapped villagers and pull them out of collapsed homes.

At least 123 people died in Guatemala and 59 others are missing, according to the government.

Helicopters ferried tents and medical supplies to remote towns on Guatemala's Pacific coast and the first foreign aid began to flow in on Monday.

More than 94,000 people have been evacuated as the storm buried homes under mud and swept away a highway bridge near Guatemala City.

Central America is vulnerable to heavy rains due to its mountainous terrain, while poor communications in rural areas complicate rescue efforts.