Landslide: ‘Incredible there were survivors’
Doctors involved in an hours-long rescue operation after a bach collapsed when hit by a landslide say it is ‘‘incredible’’ there were survivors.
A house in Orua Bay, in the rural Auckland township of Manukau Heads, was left ‘‘splintered’’ on the beach after being taken out by a slip on Wednesday afternoon, leaving three people injured – two seriously.
Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter critical care flight paramedic Ross Aitken and emergency doctor Dr Gary Payinda were on the first of two helicopters to arrive at Orua Bay, about 12.20pm.
With no direct road access (the scene was accessible only by beach), Aitken and Payinda had to be winched down, one at a time, about 24 metres to the beach.
Given all the loose debris, air crew had to be careful to choose points that wouldn’t compromise their safety.
As they arrived, two patients were being given ‘‘really good’’ first aid by volunteer fire crews and bystanders – one was severely injured, while another sustained moderate injuries.
Aitken said they were shown to the collapsed structure, where a third person was trapped a ‘‘couple of metres’’ under the rubble and seriously injured. The woman was talking, but could not get out.
Fire crews brought in USAR (urban search and rescue teams) via helicopter and hovercraft, loaned from Auckland Airport for the rescue, to extricate her.
It took two hours for crews to free the woman from the collapsed house. Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust said the woman, in her 80s, was taken to Middlemore Hospital in a critical condition.
The patient was in a stable condition yesterday morning.
The damage to the structure was significant and ‘‘it’s pretty incredible there were survivors’’, Payinda said.