NPR’s All Things Considered host Melissa Block was conducting an interview in Chengdu with a Christian pastor when the devastating earthquake occurred on Monday, May 12.
Andrea Hsu, who was with Melissa recalls the events:
Melissa and I had just sat down for an interview with a Christian pastor when we heard and felt a rumble. I remember looking up at the ceiling and seeing it shaking. We ran out onto the street where students from the theological seminary and other local residents had run out, many looking panicked. The ground beneath our feet continued to move for maybe two to three minutes, and pieces of brick and cement fell off the buildings; the cross on the church was swaying. People seemed stunned. One man was completely naked. We walked a couple miles to the stadium to meet up with Robert and Art and Xiaoyu and passed crowds all along the way who stood in the middle of intersections.
We are heading out to areas we hear were much harder hit. All along the roads, in medians, are people camped out.
NPR now has a dedicated Chengdu news page as updates come in from Melissa Block and Robert Siegel on the scene.
what kinda video is that? doesn’t work.
it’s not a video. it’s a sound file.