Anne Vos dove under her desk when her office in downtown Christchurch, New Zealand, started shaking. Trapped there after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake brought down much of the office building all around her, Vos called her son.
Hi Rob, it's Mom. There's been an earthquake ... I'm trapped under a desk, she said on his voice mail. I don't think I'm going to make it.
But the receptionist and mother of two did make it out -- 24 hours later. Rescue crews extricated her and another woman today from separate locations under the rubble of the Pyne Gould Corp. building where they worked.
Until her phone battery died, Vos was able to talk to relatives and rescue workers, describing her position under the rubble and leading them to her. She said her arm had been crushed by debris.
I don't know how they are going to get this off me, she told Australia's Channel 7 News. I just keep knocking and saying, 'Help'. She also described hearing the haunting cries of others trapped in the building, not knowing if anyone could hear them.
One of those whose cries Vos may have heard was Anne Bodkin, who was rescued a few hours after her. At first there was some confusion over whether the two Annes were the same woman, but it turned out both were rescued separately. Bodkin spent nearly 27 hours trapped in the building's collapsed third floor. Rescuers worked with a hammer and chisel for hours, before they were able to pass her a small water bottle.
Story with video: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/23/after-new-zealand-quake-woman-left-voicemail-i-dont-think-i/
Hi Rob, it's Mom. There's been an earthquake ... I'm trapped under a desk, she said on his voice mail. I don't think I'm going to make it.
But the receptionist and mother of two did make it out -- 24 hours later. Rescue crews extricated her and another woman today from separate locations under the rubble of the Pyne Gould Corp. building where they worked.
Until her phone battery died, Vos was able to talk to relatives and rescue workers, describing her position under the rubble and leading them to her. She said her arm had been crushed by debris.
I don't know how they are going to get this off me, she told Australia's Channel 7 News. I just keep knocking and saying, 'Help'. She also described hearing the haunting cries of others trapped in the building, not knowing if anyone could hear them.
One of those whose cries Vos may have heard was Anne Bodkin, who was rescued a few hours after her. At first there was some confusion over whether the two Annes were the same woman, but it turned out both were rescued separately. Bodkin spent nearly 27 hours trapped in the building's collapsed third floor. Rescuers worked with a hammer and chisel for hours, before they were able to pass her a small water bottle.
Story with video: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/23/after-new-zealand-quake-woman-left-voicemail-i-dont-think-i/
