Retirees on holiday swept away by killer waves
Source: Agencies |
March 3, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE 40 retirees on summer vacation at a seaside campground in Pelluhue nestled under pine trees knew they had to move fast after Chile's powerful earthquake struck.
They didn't make it. The tsunami came in three waves, surging 200 meters into the Pacific Ocean resort town and dragging away the bus they'd piled into, hoping to get to high ground.
Most inside were tourists, and only five of their bodies had been found by Monday.
The horror underscored the destruction wrought by Saturday's pre-dawn magnitude-8.8 quake and the tsunami that ravaged communities along Chile's south-central coast - those closest to the quake's epicenter.
Chile's death toll has reached 723, and most died in the wine-growing Maule region that includes Pelluhue.
Survivors in Pelluhue found about 20 bodies, and about 300 homes were destroyed.
Most residents were aware of the tsunami threat; street signs pointed to the nearest tsunami evacuation route. The ruins of homes, TV sets, clothes, dishwater and dead fish cover the town's black sand beaches.
"We ran through the highest part of town, yelling, 'Get out of your homes!'" said Claudio Escalona, 43, who fled his home near the campground with his wife and daughters, aged four and six.
"About 20 minutes later came three waves, two of them huge, about 6 meters each, and a third even bigger. That one went into everything.
"There were the screams, and then a tremendous silence."
Destruction is widespread and food scarce on the coast.
In Curanipe, the church served as a morgue. In Cauquenes, people quickly buried their dead because the funeral home had no electricity.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said authorities were flying hundreds of tons of food, water and other basics into the region.
After the quake rocked the port town of Talcahuano, Marioli Gatica and her extended family huddled in a circle on the floor of their seaside wooden home, listening to the radio by lantern light.
They heard firefighters urging citizens to stay calm and stay inside. They heard nothing about a tsunami until it slammed into their house with an unearthly roar.
The family was swept below the surface.
All the family survived except Gatica's mother, 76.
In Concepcion rescuers who paused in a search for survivors resumed their hunt yesterday at a toppled 70-unit apartment building. Firefighters have retrieved 25 survivors and nine bodies.
They didn't make it. The tsunami came in three waves, surging 200 meters into the Pacific Ocean resort town and dragging away the bus they'd piled into, hoping to get to high ground.
Most inside were tourists, and only five of their bodies had been found by Monday.
The horror underscored the destruction wrought by Saturday's pre-dawn magnitude-8.8 quake and the tsunami that ravaged communities along Chile's south-central coast - those closest to the quake's epicenter.
Chile's death toll has reached 723, and most died in the wine-growing Maule region that includes Pelluhue.
Survivors in Pelluhue found about 20 bodies, and about 300 homes were destroyed.
Most residents were aware of the tsunami threat; street signs pointed to the nearest tsunami evacuation route. The ruins of homes, TV sets, clothes, dishwater and dead fish cover the town's black sand beaches.
"We ran through the highest part of town, yelling, 'Get out of your homes!'" said Claudio Escalona, 43, who fled his home near the campground with his wife and daughters, aged four and six.
"About 20 minutes later came three waves, two of them huge, about 6 meters each, and a third even bigger. That one went into everything.
"There were the screams, and then a tremendous silence."
Destruction is widespread and food scarce on the coast.
In Curanipe, the church served as a morgue. In Cauquenes, people quickly buried their dead because the funeral home had no electricity.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said authorities were flying hundreds of tons of food, water and other basics into the region.
After the quake rocked the port town of Talcahuano, Marioli Gatica and her extended family huddled in a circle on the floor of their seaside wooden home, listening to the radio by lantern light.
They heard firefighters urging citizens to stay calm and stay inside. They heard nothing about a tsunami until it slammed into their house with an unearthly roar.
The family was swept below the surface.
All the family survived except Gatica's mother, 76.
In Concepcion rescuers who paused in a search for survivors resumed their hunt yesterday at a toppled 70-unit apartment building. Firefighters have retrieved 25 survivors and nine bodies.
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