Corkman witnesses collapse of cathedral
Marc Gorman, from Grange, was among a 600- strong crowd taking refuge in the city’s main square when the Cathedral’s 19th century spire came crashing down.
“All of a sudden it was like, everywhere was falling down around you, the ground was shaking, pandemonium broke out, there were people running everywhere,” he said.
Mr Gorman is one of an estimated 200 Irish people currently in Christchurch. He was Skyping with friends in an internet cafe when the quake hit: “We were on the internet chatting to friends back home when the earthquake hit.
“The computer screens went off, there was noise everywhere, people were screaming.
“We made a bolt for the door and ran into Cathedral Square, there was a huge crowd of between 500 and 600 people already there.”
As buildings crashed to the ground Marc and his friends watched the cathedral being reduced to rubble and its roof caving in.
“There was a lot of buildings collapsing at the time, the big cathedral in the square collapsed right in front of us,” he said.
It is not known how many people were inside the cathedral — one of the city’s main tourist attractions — when the earthquake hit, as rescue efforts continued yesterday.
Meanwhile, a Cork-born radio presenter warned the death toll in Christ- church could climb to 400. Noelle McCarthy, a chat show host and producer with Radio New Zealand, said people were trapped under rubble in locations across the stricken city.
“It struck the city at peak time, when people were out on their lunch break from work, kids were going home from school, there was a lot of traffic out on the street, so it caused maximum damage.”
Speaking yesterday from Auckland, Ms McCarthy said emergency services were working through the night to free people trapped beneath collapsed buildings. “There are a number of people who are trapped in buildings around the city, they under the rubble tonight and emergency services are trying to get them out.
“The death toll is expected to rise. We have unconfirmed reports from around Christchurch from reliable sources that the death toll could end up anywhere between 200 and 400 people by the time we know a final toll.”
