The 38-year-old employee of a local rural credit cooperative in the city of Mianzhu finally got out safely six hours later, with the bag containing millions of yuan he had been closely guarding with his colleagues.
Qingping, with a population of more than 13,000, was completely isolated till dawn yesterday, since the quake hit Sichuan province on Monday.
Quake victims have been stranded at Ma's village for nearly three days, with no sign of help.
They had no food or shelter, and were hungry and thirsty, he said.
As villagers yearned for help, relief personnel were working day and night to enter the county.
A mountain that had collapsed from the quake blocked the main way into Qingping.
Relief troops, more than 2,000 in total, finally arrived at dawn yesterday.
They brought comfort, as well as food and medicine. They were working round the clock, taking turns to take a brief rest and then go back to work.
According to Ge Yujin, an official from the relief team, a road was blocked and he had to crawl for six hours on the steep mountain, empty handed, into the county.
"It took even longer for our soldiers, with food and medicine on their shoulders, " Ge said.
Relief troops have put together a medical team with 30 workers. They plan to use helicopters to enter the county to treat victims at the site and carry heavily injured ones out.
"We will never forget the army," Ma said.
While hundreds of Ma's fellow villagers have managed to get out, thousands remain waiting.
