Kiwi recounts horror of Ecuador quake

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa (R) embraces a resident  in the town of Canoa after the...
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa (R) embraces a resident in the town of Canoa after the earthquake struck off the country's Pacific coast. Photo Reuters

A Gisborne man caught up in the devastating Ecuador earthquake has spoken of the horror of Saturday's tragedy, the chaotic and corrupt relief efforts since, and the dangers of aftershocks and disease.

Daniel Bayley has been at Canoa, a coastal town of 5000 on the Pacific Coast of Ecuador for six weeks.

He was there when the 7.8 magnitude quake hit the country on Saturday and devastated 90 per cent of Canoa. He is still there trying to help with relief efforts and plans to remain there to help.

"It is absolute chaos here. When the earthquake struck we all headed inland -- everyone was just running. We slept in the mountains in case a tsunami came. When we came back into Canoa the next morning, it was grim."

Mr Bayley says he was met with a barrage of traumatic scenes, bodies crushed under buildings, piles of bodies and rubble where restaurants and hotels had stood full of patrons just hours before.

An entire block had been razed when the earthquake set off a gas canister in a restaurant, setting off a chain reaction of gas canisters in neighbouring buildings, effectively flattening the entire block like dominoes.

"The stories are crazy. One man was standing in the middle of the street and saw an entire building collapse like a stack of cards on top of a restaurant full of people, they were just flattened. There is so much death."

The earthquake was just the start of the problem says Mr Bayley. The relief effort up until yesterday was disorganised to say the least.

"When we got back into town there was no leadership. No one knew what was happening."

Mr Bayley managed to help dig a 70-year-old woman from under three floors of rubble on Monday but says there are many others and help at the time was near non-existent.

"No one was helping. I have been so frustrated. Everyone was standing and watching. There were no tools, even the hammers the firefighters had were bad.

"I put it down to the Latin culture of putting immediate family first. People are concerned solely with their family."

Mr Bayley has been walking 2km from his damaged hotel in 30C heat to the centre of Canoa every day, to help rescue efforts.

When army and civil defence arrived on Monday, the work efforts were not much better, he said.

"They were just standing with their guns. I lost it -- I threw my spade down in the middle of the street and just yelled 'where is your heart? What is wrong with you? Why will you not help your people?'"

As an added danger, constant aftershocks also threaten to send buildings damaged by the first quake to the ground.

"I saw an excavator on top of a pile of rubble just going nuts. If anyone was under that building they are surely dead now."

Mr Bayley has faced a tough choice -- stay and help, or look after his own safety -- as tensions among locals rise.

"A truck came in with clothes and everyone was fighting over them. We were trying to calm everyone down and hand them out equally but they kept fighting.

"Food and water was running low, people are shutting shop or hiking prices up. If it was like that over a pair of jandals, what is it going to be like when water and food runs out?

"I was at the point of giving up when I heard they had found two people alive under a building."

Aid arrived in Canoa yesterday as a result of crowdfunding and international efforts. International rescue teams are now heading rescue efforts and two more people have been found.

"Help finally arrived. There is a lot of help in Canoa now but in the surrounding villages, there is still none."

Mr Bayley left Canoa yesterday to journey to the capital Quito.

"We just drove through the epicentre, and it is bad. It is hard to stand by and watch this."

The people of Ecuador are not shy about their corrupt Government.

President Rafael Correa even showed up in Canoa while Mr Bayley was there.

"He stayed for half an hour, took some pictures then left. Locals have even told me the army was intercepting relief trucks and driving them in to take credit for it. If money is donated to the Government, you can bet it is not going to go to the people."

Mr Bayley says hygiene is now becoming a major issue, with no running water or places to go to the bathroom.

"People are starting to get sick, there is not a lot of clean water and no one has showered in days. People are robbing and looting too.

"I am in Quito for now, trying to organise relief efforts. We have been handing out food packages. Families are living under sheets between sticks. We are handing out one or two packages to a family but people are holding their babies up wanting more. How do you say no when someone holds up their baby?"

Mr Bayley left Gisborne about seven months ago. He planned to buy a backpackers property and live in Canoa but his plans are now on hold indefinitely.

"I have seen it all over the past couple of days. Nothing could shock me now."

A friend of Mr Bayley has set up a Gofundme account for Canoa. To make a donation to the account go to www.gofundme.com/canoa-earthquake

 

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