Los Angeles-based crews help rescue teen from rubble 5 days after Nepal earthquake

KATHMANDU, Nepal (KABC) -- Los Angeles County Fire Department crews helped rescue a teen trapped in rubble five days after the earthquake in Nepal.

Hundreds cheered as the teen, identified by police as Pemba Tamang, was pulled out of the wreckage. He had been trapped under the collapsed debris of a seven-story building in Kathmandu since Saturday, when the magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck.

PHOTOS: Rescuers pull survivor from rubble 5 days after Nepal quake

The rescue came at a time when every bit of good news was sorely needed.

In a photo posted on Twitter by the U.S. Agency International Development, you can see one of the Los Angeles-based firefighters in a blue helmet at the bottom of the picture. Firefighters from the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department based out of Virginia also aided in the rescue efforts.

The Los Angeles-based disaster response team specializes in these types of rescues and they worked closely with local rescuers in freeing the teen.

The young man, covered in dust, was alert and responsive during the rescue. It took hours to lift him out of the rubble. Medics then put an IV drop into his arm and a brace around his neck. He appeared stunned, and his eyes blinked in the sunlight as workers hurriedly carried him away on a stretcher.

The firefighters just touched down in Nepal a few days ago and were grateful they were able to help.

"Today was amazing. This is what we do. This is the thousands of hours that we, as urban search and rescue members representing the United States of America, we do that. This is what we do it for," said Capt. Andrew Olvera with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The building where the boy was found used to be a hotel. Olvera said he was just lucky to be trapped in a cavity in the debris.

"It's what we call an entombment, so he wasn't specifically crushed, but what he was was inside of a box, a box with heavy concrete all around him. So the USAID teams, what we did was we worked side by side with the local teams and we were there to assist them in getting this victim out," Olvera said.

The jubilant scene was welcome on a drizzly, chilly day in Kathmandu where many residents remained on edge over aftershocks that have rattled the city since Saturday's mammoth quake killed more than 5,500 people and destroyed thousands of houses and other buildings.

PHOTOS: Nepal earthquake, inside the aftermath

More than 70 aftershocks stronger than magnitude 3.2 have been recorded in the Himalayan region by Indian scientists over the past five days, according to J.L. Gautam, the director of seismology at the Indian Meteorological Department in New Delhi. The strongest, registering magnitude 6.9, came on Sunday, he said.

Rattled by the shaking and anxious to check on family members in outlying areas, tens of thousands of people have left the capital on buses this week. The government has been providing free bus service to many destinations.

Police said the official death toll in Nepal had reached 5,489. That figure did not include the 19 people killed at Mount Everest - five foreign climbers and 14 Nepalese Sherpa guides - when the quake caused an avalanche that hit part of the base camp.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.