Many Chinese netizens were moved by a SWAT police officer, who rescued three trapped residents during the Luding earthquake with his teammates but later discovered that his father and younger sister had died in the quake, CCTV News reported.

26-year-old Qin Xiaoqiang was one of the 240 SWAT police officers from the public security bureau of Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture who were sent to the epicenter in Moxi township, Luding county after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit the region. This team, the earliest to arrive, worked for 13 hours to pull out three trapped residents amid waves of aftershocks.

Qin was worried about his family while he was rescuing as they lived in the neighboring Detuo township. On early Tuesday, when he was setting up tents at a temporary shelter, he finally got in touch with his family and was told the bad news.

The public security bureau of Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture sent him back home to take care of his family. He then joined the rescue work at his hometown. "As long as I do a little bit more, more families will be safe and reunite," he said.