Chennai building collapse survivor: I drank urine to survive 72 hrs under rubble

Prakash recounts his horrifying nightmare:

Amar and I along with two others were working on the seventh floor in an apartment facing the front of the building. Some time after 4 that afternoon there was loud thunder, lightning and heavy rains. After a while the power went off. It was quite dark and we were unable to continue with our work.

I was thirsty, so I walked into the opposite flat, which faced the back, to drink some water. Amar and the others remained in the flat.

I had barely reached the flat when I felt a tremor. My immediate thought was that it was an earthquake. I crouched against one corner of a wall and waited for it to stop. But there was this extremely loud rumbling noise and the entire building started to tremble. It was a totally unbelievable moment; I could barely understand what was happening.

I remember thinking that since I was going to die anyway, I should probably jump off the building. I even called out to Amar, but just like that, within a blink of an eye, I saw everything collapse all at once. I felt myself going down with the entire structure, which just tumbled down like it was made out of dried wood.

When everything settled, I found myself enclosed in a small area about 3 feet wide. One huge slab above my head had fallen diagonally leaving a small space in between.

At first I was terrified, I kept screaming for help. I was afraid that no one would hear me and I would probably die here.

But after a few hours I could hear noises above and I calmed myself. I slowly cleared some of the small pieces of debris lying near me and made some more space. I felt that I would be rescued soon, but the nightmare continued.

Though I never felt hungry, I was extremely thirsty and finally forced myself to drink my own urine. I dozed off and on and had no idea how much time had passed or whether it was day or night. Sometimes when I heard loud noises or machines being operated overhead, I was frightened thinking something might collapse over my head.

It was only on Tuesday afternoon that I could establish communication with the rescue team. I could see a distant light and hear voices more clearly and much closer.

Read more from the original source:
Chennai building collapse survivor: I drank urine to survive 72 hrs under rubble