Forty Kiwis still missing following quake

BY KEITH LYNCH

Around 40 New Zealanders believed to have been in Chile during Saturday's massive quake are yet to be contacted.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said it had spoken with around 230 Kiwis in Chile to confirm they were still trying to contact another 40.

A Ministry spokesperson said their efforts were being hampered by breakdowns in communication networks and asked that anyone who has heard from Kiwis in the area and know they are safe to inform authorities.

Meanwhile the death toll from a massive earthquake in Chile has climbed to more than 700, but there are no reports so far of New Zealanders being among them.

The 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck near Concepcion, Chile's second largest city, at 7.34pm (NZT) on Saturday, and sparked a tsunami alert across the Pacific.

The ministry was advising against all tourist and non-essential travel to Chile until the situation became clearer. Santiago airport is currently closed.

'SCARIEST THING'

Christchurch man Sean Hallissey, 43, and wife Rosana are on holiday in Santiago, near the epicentre of the magnitude 8.8 quake.

"It was one of the strangest sensations I've ever experienced in my life," he said. "It started off as a small shaking and the rumble got louder and louder. We could actually see these waves rippling across the wooden flooring."

He said the earthquake lasted between 1½ and two minutes.

"It just did not stop. It's probably the scariest thing that ever happened to me ... Every time there's movement we're ducking under a doorway."

Mr Hallissey said the lessons they learned at school in New Zealand kicked in and they went to the strongest part of the apartment under a large beam.

"We huddled under there as we were taught to as kids and rode out the initial shake."

He said they feared they would die.

"My wife said it out loud, 'I don't want to die' and I prayed at a rate of knots and very loudly for the whole time. I have never been through anything as intense in my life. It was really, really scary."

Mr Hallissey said he had a strong Catholic faith and believed God was there and listening.

"We felt he was listening the other day."

All power and gas was off and Mr and Mrs Hallissey gathered their most important documents, passports and wallets in case they had to get out quickly.

After several hours they were allowed back inside but the building supervisor insisted that doors be left open in case of aftershocks and gas appliances were turned off.

"Our neighbours were absolutely fantastic. We speak a little bit of Spanish but when you are in those panic situations your Spanish gets even smaller and these guys were really, really good."

He said one lady who had lived in the apartment block for 25 years had never experienced a shake of such proportions.

The earthquake followed another couple of bad experiences. When they first arrived, Mrs Hallissey was taken to hospital with dehydration and soon after that her handbag with her passport, wallet, credit cards and new camera with all their holiday pictures was stolen.

He and his wife were due to fly to New Zealand today but the Santiago airport had suffered major damage.

"Pretty much the town has closed down. We're in the eastern part, which is the more up-scale area. All the buildings here are safe but we saw smoke on the skyline and our cab driver was telling us there were big fires around the place. I believe in the east [of the city] it's the worst."

Christchurch man Sean Gosling's wife and daughter were visiting relatives in Concepcion when the earthquake hit.

He had not yet spoken to Chilean wife Evelyn Fabiana Matamala Rojas and daughter Paloma Sefia Gosling, 4, but another relative told Gosling they were not injured.

The relief was "huge", but, "I still want to hear their voices," he said. "Supposedly, my daughter slept through it. She's four so you can imagine how I'm feeling right now."

- with NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News