Wombwell Earthquake

27 February 2008
The night the roof fell in on me, by teenage earthquake victim

Terrified David Bates narrowly escaped death when a chimney smashed through the roof of his terraced home and crashed onto his bed as the biggest earthquake in 25 years rocked Britain.

The 19-year-old, who suffered a broken pelvis, was watching TV in bed when his attic bedroom started shaking.
The student was stunned as his wardrobe started jolting back and forth as the tremors of the earthquake, measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale, took hold.

Lucky to be alive: David Bates is in hospital after a chimney crashed onto his bed at his home in Wombwell, South Yorkshire, one of the areas worst hit by the earthquake
Then, before he knew what was happening, a huge piece of concrete came crashing through the ceiling of his home in Wombwell, South Yorkshire, and crushed his hips.

“Everything started shaking and I don’t know why, but I knew it was an earthquake. My wardrobe was shaking and it lasted for several seconds and then it all seemed to stop and I was laying there thinking ‘what do I do now?’
“Then all of a sudden it all went dark and there was a noise like smashing plates as something came crashing through the ceiling. Then this big piece of concrete fell on me and landed on my hips.
“I suppose it was all the soot and dirt that turned it dark, it was really really painful, it fell on me with a big crunch.”

David shouted out in pain as he was left in agony and trapped by the weight of the pile of brickwork at his home.
His father Paul, who was asleep in an adjoining bedroom, woke when he heard the noise of the chimney falling and then heard his son crying out in pain.
Paul said: “We heard a bang and my son screaming ‘dad’. I ran upstairs to the attic and saw him lying there trapped by this big of masonry on his hip.

story courtesy of mailonline