A CHESTER student was just seconds away from being crushed by a giant cathedral tower which collapsed in the New Zealand earthquake.
Edward Reid, of Oscroft, Tarvin, who is in Christchurch on a 12-month scholarship at the Anglican cathedral, has described the dramatic moment when he dived for cover as Tuesday’s violent quake ripped through the city.
The 19-year-old former Abbey Gate College pupil says he’s lucky to be alive after virtually half of the iconic 200ft tower and spire, which had tourists inside, crashed to the ground.
He said: “I heard on the radio today (Wednesday) that 20 are expected dead and 22 missing.
“I also heard about one man saying he saw the cathedral collapse when there were people up in the tower, and also he saw people below crushed by it.
“It made me realise how lucky I've been.”
Edward was returning to work at the cathedral gift shop when the 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit – killing a suspected 75 people – at 12.51pm local time (11.51pm in the UK).
He said: “As I stepped through the door of the shop the shaking began.
“As the shaking became more violent and people started screaming I dived for cover under a bench in the shop.
“Then behind me the tower of the Cathedral collapsed with large fragments of the building crashing to the ground only a few metres away.
“Only five seconds earlier and I would have been directly underneath where most of the tower fell.”
Edward added: “All the windows of the shop shattered, cutting most of the twenty-something people in the shop. Then suddenly a huge dust cloud flew through the shop as a result of the tower collapse.
“Once the earthquake stopped I got up to try and get out of the building. The thick dust meant you couldn't see your own hand in front of you.”
Edward, who won his scholarship – presented to one English student each year – as a result of his performances for the Abbey Gate College Chapel Choir and Chester Cathedral Choir, then heroically led customers to safety and tended to the injured.
“I managed to find the shop door and tried to guide everyone to the door and out to the Cathedral Square to safety,” he explained.
“People came out coughing after swallowing some of the dust.
“After the dust had settled, myself and a couple others went back into the shop to assist people who were too injured to walk. One man’s whole head was covered in blood.
“Once everyone was out I ran back with another employee of the cathedral into the cafe to get as much water as we could for the seven badly injured people who had escaped.
“After that I decided it would be better to stay clear of any buildings as the frequent large aftershocks were causing more buildings to collapse.”
Edward went back to his home outside of Christchurch, which escaped relatively unscathed, but returned to the city yesterday with four student flatmates to help with the cleaning-up process.
He sings in the daily Christchurch Cathedral service and is also teaching flute and sport during his year in the country. Edward completes his scholarship in July.
