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STORY: HAITI / UN STAFF RESCUE
TRT: 3.23
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 20 JANUARY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI/ FILE
20 JANUARY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI
1. Wide shot, Jens Kristensen having a conversation
2. Med shot, Jens Kristensen having a conversation
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Kristensen, Civilian UN Peacekeeper and Survivor:
“A belief in that I would survive, that I would be found, I think mentally made me survive.”
FILE - 17 JANUARY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI
4. UN search and rescue teams pull survivor Jens Kristensen from the rubble of the collapsed UN compound
5. Med shot, Doctors check Kristensen on the stretcher
20 JANUARY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Kristensen, Civilian UN Peacekeeper and Survivor:
“I could save my urine and then drink it eventually, if it came to the point, but, it never came to the point, and it is not very…, it does not taste good, it doesn’t smell good, so thanks good I didn’t come to the point where I need it to drink it.”
7. Close up, Jens Kristensen’s UN badge
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Kristensen, Civilian UN Peacekeeper and Survivor:
“I felt that the door was too far away, so in the last split second I decided to jump under the table instead; instead of run to the door. And miraculously it was the right decision to do, for had I run to the door I would have been squashed, I would have been killed.”
9. Med shot, Jens Kristensen having a conversation
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Kristensen, Civilian UN Peacekeeper and Survivor:
“I heard two more people, two more people, one up to the right, and one to the left. The one to the left last time I heard from the person was about 48 hours before I was rescued, so probably by Friday morning, something like that. The last one to the right was some 36 hours before, so sometime Saturday.”
FILE - 17 JANUARY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI
11. Various shots, rescue workers carry the stretcher to the makeshift UN clinic
12. UPSOUND (English) Jens Kristensen, Civilian UN Peacekeeper and Survivor:
"There are two more people stuck in there... (Rescue worker: alive?) ... Yes... (Rescue worker: Did you speak to them?) ..no but I heard a banging.... (Rescue worker: how long ago did you last hear them?) ... last time was 36 to 48 hours ago... (Rescue worker: 36 to 48 hours was the last time you heard, what was it, was it tapping or voice?) ... it was tapping. ... (Rescue worker: in relation to where you were, do you know what direction?) ... that way (pointing) ... (Rescue worker: OK, so to your right).”
20 JANUARY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Kristensen, Civilian UN Peacekeeper and Survivor:
“Haiti needs so much assistance right now that I want to use my capacity and my experience to work and assist with the emergency and the humanitarian assistance and the emergency relief.”
FILE - 17 JANUARY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI
14. Wide shot, rescue workers form a line to receive Kristensen, clapping
15. Close up, Kristensen's eyes being checked
16. Med shot, Kristensen on the stretcher
17. Med shot, rescue workers carry the stretcher to the makeshift UN clinic
18. Med shot, Kristensen being loaded into the ambulance
United Nations staff member Jens Kristensen from Denmark, who was rescued on Sunday after being buried in the rubble in Haiti, said that a belief in that he would be found mentally helped him to survive.
International rescue workers pulled him out of the ruins of the UN mission’s headquarters at the Christopher Hotel five days after a massive earthquake wrecked havoc in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Kristensen, Civilian UN Peacekeeper and Survivor:
“A belief in that I would survive, that I would be found, I think mentally made me survive.”
Kristensen, who works for the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), was found shortly after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the site. Four other people were rescued earlier in the day.
He said that he had no food or water but used an instant coffee jar to save his own urine, in case he had to drink it. He didn’t have to.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Kristensen, Civilian UN Peacekeeper and Survivor:
“I could save my urine and then drink it eventually, if it came to the point, but, it never came to the point, and it is not very…, it does not taste good, it doesn’t smell good, so thanks good I didn’t come to the point where I need it to drink it.”
When the quake struck, Kristensen was in his 3rd floor office, reading over notes in preparation for a meeting. He considered trying to run out of the building, but instead jumped under a desk. A bookcase fell against a filing cabinet in such a way that he had enough space in the rubble to stretch his arms and legs.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Kristensen, Civilian UN Peacekeeper and Survivor:
“I felt that the door was too far away, so in the last split second I decided to jump under the table instead; instead of run to the door. And miraculously it was the right decision to do, for had I run to the door I would have been squashed, I would have been killed.”
Kristensen – who was largely unhurt - believes that two more people were stuck close to where he was found.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Kristensen, Civilian UN Peacekeeper and Survivor:
“I heard two more people, two more people, one up to the right, and one to the left. The one to the left last time I heard from the person was about 48 hours before I was rescued, so probably by Friday morning, something like that. The last one to the right was some 36 hours before, so sometime Saturday.”
Kristensen - who has many years experience in humanitarian response - plans to stay in Haiti and says the country needs people like him more than ever now. He has not seen his family yet.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Kristensen, Civilian UN Peacekeeper and Survivor:
“Haiti needs so much assistance right now that I want to use my capacity and my experience to work and assist with the emergency and the humanitarian assistance and the emergency relief.”
Until after he was rescued he thought it was just his office that had collapsed and did not realize that it was the entire building, much less the city, which had been destroyed.
