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Quake survivors speak - Group tells STAR of death and destruction in Haiti
Members of the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System who were in Haiti during Tuesday's earthquake, arrived in Jamaica last night. Two <span style="font-weight: bold">delegates from the group are unaccounted for after their hotel collapsed during the devastating quake. -</span> Winston Sill
"The earthquake must have lasted 25-30 seconds but in my mind it was like an eternity."
The words of Errol Wilson, a member of the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System, who was in Haiti at the time of Tuesday's devastating earthquake, summed up what may be the view of many who survived the tremor of sorrows.
Speaking with THE STAR after arriving in Jamaica from the shattered island last night, Wilson, who had been there for a conference said that the quickness of the earthquake belies the destruction it left behind.
He said that he was in the gym of his hotel sometime after 5 p.m. when tremors rocked the building for a few seconds. However, it was when he went outside the hotel that the heartbreak was unfolded to him.
"It was really heart-rending to see kids laying on the side of the road dead, some were covered, some not covered, some of the buildings were so devastated that you couldn't believe that anyone in that rubble may have survived," he said. "And, as you go from one block to another the buildings were just looking worse, but to see the bodies laying on the side of the road, I think this is something that I really wasn't prepared for, it was really a sorrowful sight to see." The bandage atop Patrick Rowe's head clearly showed that he had a story to tell. He, another member of the group who hails from Bahamas, had just checked into his hotel room when all hell, and the wall of his room, broke lose.
crashing down
"All of the walls, the ceiling in my room came down, that's how I got the injury on the head, the wall in the bathroom ended up in the bathtub, the frame for the doors were jammed, the room's television was shattered on the floor," he said. "The floor seemed to (turn) at a 20 degree angle, everything sort of fell forward, it was really, really critical in the room at that time."
Rowe said that the experience of getting the required medical attention was a sobering one as he saw people dying, literally, as they waited in long lines to get medical attention. He recalled how the doctor's had to tend to him and other patients outside as the hospital he went to had collapsed, taking vital equipment and medicine down with it. The healers, he said, had to make do with the limited supplies they had on hand. It was the headlamp of a car that provided light as doctors tended to his wound.
Director General of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Darby, said that three Jamaicans who were a part of the team who were visiting the island are all safe. He continued that they will return to the island today as they stayed behind to offer assistance to Prime Minister Bruce Golding who is set to visit Haiti today.
Darby, however, disclosed that two other persons from the delegation are so far unaccounted for after their hotel collapsed during the quake.The missing team members are from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the Netherland Antilles.
Members of the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System who were in Haiti during Tuesday's earthquake, arrived in Jamaica last night. Two <span style="font-weight: bold">delegates from the group are unaccounted for after their hotel collapsed during the devastating quake. -</span> Winston Sill
"The earthquake must have lasted 25-30 seconds but in my mind it was like an eternity."
The words of Errol Wilson, a member of the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System, who was in Haiti at the time of Tuesday's devastating earthquake, summed up what may be the view of many who survived the tremor of sorrows.
Speaking with THE STAR after arriving in Jamaica from the shattered island last night, Wilson, who had been there for a conference said that the quickness of the earthquake belies the destruction it left behind.
He said that he was in the gym of his hotel sometime after 5 p.m. when tremors rocked the building for a few seconds. However, it was when he went outside the hotel that the heartbreak was unfolded to him.
"It was really heart-rending to see kids laying on the side of the road dead, some were covered, some not covered, some of the buildings were so devastated that you couldn't believe that anyone in that rubble may have survived," he said. "And, as you go from one block to another the buildings were just looking worse, but to see the bodies laying on the side of the road, I think this is something that I really wasn't prepared for, it was really a sorrowful sight to see." The bandage atop Patrick Rowe's head clearly showed that he had a story to tell. He, another member of the group who hails from Bahamas, had just checked into his hotel room when all hell, and the wall of his room, broke lose.
crashing down
"All of the walls, the ceiling in my room came down, that's how I got the injury on the head, the wall in the bathroom ended up in the bathtub, the frame for the doors were jammed, the room's television was shattered on the floor," he said. "The floor seemed to (turn) at a 20 degree angle, everything sort of fell forward, it was really, really critical in the room at that time."
Rowe said that the experience of getting the required medical attention was a sobering one as he saw people dying, literally, as they waited in long lines to get medical attention. He recalled how the doctor's had to tend to him and other patients outside as the hospital he went to had collapsed, taking vital equipment and medicine down with it. The healers, he said, had to make do with the limited supplies they had on hand. It was the headlamp of a car that provided light as doctors tended to his wound.
Director General of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Darby, said that three Jamaicans who were a part of the team who were visiting the island are all safe. He continued that they will return to the island today as they stayed behind to offer assistance to Prime Minister Bruce Golding who is set to visit Haiti today.
Darby, however, disclosed that two other persons from the delegation are so far unaccounted for after their hotel collapsed during the quake.The missing team members are from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the Netherland Antilles.