| Presto | 07-25-2011 11:50 AM |
My co-worker's wife has family in Oslo. His nieces friends wrote a first-hand account of what happened to them. Reposted from Facebook. Pardon the translation errors: Quote:
We had just had an information meeting about the explosion in Oslo. Side delegation to the Oslo and Akershus were affected the most, we had a little meeting in the dining room next to the great hall. We talked and comforted each other, in the hope that our friends and family were not near the accident in Oslo. We called parents, friends and family. We cried. At the time counted ourselves lucky that we were on an isolated island that few people knew about.
After the meeting we went into the great hall again, where we sat with good friends and saw the news on our cell phones. Suddenly we heard several shots. Panic broke out. People screamed and screamed. Many ran to the windows and see what was happening outside. There stood a man, he was dressed in police clothing and waving his arms as he screamed "GET AWAY FROM THE WINDOW AND GET DOWN." We laid down on the ground. Then we heard more shots, closer this time. We were in shock!
I (Tuva) got up, I turned around and stared into the small room. The door was open, and a meter in front of me stood a boy. Then I noticed the man standing in the doorway a meter in front of the boy. I looked at the man with confusion. Three seconds later he shot the boy. I felt my whole body was paralyzed. I felt that someone pulled my arm. It was my girlfriend, Hana who went down to the floor. We sat there and looked at each other. we started laughing, we knew nothing. We told each other that this would be an exercise. One of the chefs came running in and yelled run!
We got up automatically and run out into the hallway, where it stopped up completely. People fell, and many ran right over them, so I scream "I have no shoes!". I have no idea why I thought about that , Hana and I got separated but I found Thianna. We ran out the door and towards the outhouse There we stood with other people who were just as confused as us. People talked about it that it was bullshit until a boy came and turned around.
He had blood all down his back and his pants. He said "I do not know whose blood it is, but it's not mine!" Then a girl came running towards us, she had blood all over her hands and cried. She ran toward the building, but we ran into the woods. Before we reached the water's edge I turned (Tuva) and stopped by a boy. He had been shot in the leg. He was on the ground holding around his leg Under all the panic, we decided to continue to run.
We came down to the waterfront where we met many others who had fled, we stood there and discussed what we should do. We planned how we would run if he came.
Then we heard four shots. And we ran away along the path by the water's edge. So we found the grass and hid behind, we laid down and told everyone to turn off the phone or turn it on silent. We told everyone that we had to take off all the colorful clothes so he would not see us. People took off their jackets, sweaters and put the valuables in the forest inside the grass and behind trees. After having laid on the ground for twenty minutes, we heard many shots. So everyone got up and ran up into the woods among the trees.
We ran over huge logs, rocks and twigs. There was tall grass, if any of us had fallen, we would have been finished. People slipped, but no one fell, we had a real guardian angel . A boy called out that two boys longer behind us had been shot, when we ran even faster. So we found higher grass and laid down. It was then we noticed that we had a eight year old boy with us. We were very afraid for him because he was so young. We told him that he had to run with us and never look behind. We lay there for twenty minutes, we wait.
Throughout the flight we hear helicopters flying over the island. We heard ambulances and police cars on the mainland. And the only thing we are talking about is "WHERE are the police?". Then she says one girl who is with us "is someone jogging?" Said one further back, "it's him!” Then we hear shots again, just behind us. We get up run up the hill and even further into the forest. Then we were divided, and the group we had went from 50 to10 people. Where the others ran we had no idea and we did not have time to look for them!
We laid down immediately again, and did not notice until after a while that we are laying in poo. (We were where they emptied the toilet!) Everyone was completely panicked, many crying and others telling them to hush. We thought that if someone cries, he would hear the noise, and then we would be revealed. We heard some sounds, so we ran to an old skate ramp and hid behind it. When we were not more than ten people standing there. We thought it was over now, and that we were safe! We stood there for ten minutes, we heard more shots and we started to run up a hill!
We spread ourselves even more, now we were only 3 girls. We ran up a rocky hill and cut our feet. I (Tuva) ran barefoot, while Thianna had boots. The stones were smooth and slippery and we could not get a proper grip on the rocks before we stepped on another one. The thought that struck me was that if we fall down now, when we roll down and going to die. it was only a few meters left. When we were up beside the main building one girl ran on. We saw an open door, and Thianna pulled my arm and pulled me into the bedroom. We locked the door, pulled off our jackets and got under the bunk beds that stood there.
Then began the wait. Deep down we knew we were safe here, but fear still hanging over us! We had eye contact all the time, while we sent messages to those we loved. It was nerve-wracking . We shook with fear and we were under the beds, and could feel that our bodies were exhausted. We said we loved each other and that this was not the end for us. We also planned what to do if he came. We heard shots outside the wall, and the screams of those who had been shot out on the trail was absolutely terrible to hear. We knew we could not help! We try and contact those on the mainland, we called the police and all that could have helped us.
After two hours, we received a message from a friend, she said there were police officers in the main building, but she did not know if they were real! We were terrified. "Are there more ???!" we whispered to each other! So we got another message that said the police would come for us. We told them where we were and were told that the police would come and rescue us. So there was a knock on the door, and the police shouted to us.
They asked us and keep your hands above our head, but since my hip was out of its socket I could not get up! Before we opened the door Thianna screamed repeatedly "ARE YOU A REAL POLICE?". They said yes, and we took the chance. We opened the door, they came in with heavy weapons and armored suits. They asked us to look down, or against the wall while they were going to carry us to safety. They wanted us not to look at the dead that lay beyond. There were five police officers who went with us, they covered us with shields and weapons. I couldn’t help it and I looked over campsite. There were dead people everywhere! Inside the tents, on the trail, and many of the tents were completely destroyed. When we got to the entrance we stopped and looked out before we went inside.
2 meters from the entrance was a girl who was shot in the chest. I closed my eyes and walked into the room that contained several survivors! There we sat and waited, we got shirts and talked with the others. All agreed that this seemed completely unreal. I fell into conversation with one policeman who told me that they think about fifty people have died. I then asked if they had been in the woods. He said no and looked at me strangely. I said that where there are many more.
After a while we would be transported through the great hall and into the hallway. They said we had to look towards the wall as we walked. They recommended strongly it! It smelled blood in the entire building. But again I had to look, and there were dead people everywhere. Some of those lying next to their mobile phones and there were huge puddles of blood under them and over the floor. We sat in the hall where we got Snickers, soft drinks, slush, nuts and chewing tobacco. Everything we needed to help us calm down! We were on edge as one person read the news on his phone to tell what had happened.
He also called out the names of some of those who were safe. We became one very fast especially under a situation like this. People you'd never talked to or spent time with before quickly became very close.We spent time in the hallway and called family and friends. Many had to recharge the mobile phones and tried desperately and get them to work. After much crying were we told that we should evacuate! We got in line and we went down to the boat. Because of my hip I went first in the row with two other people. I remember that I compared the last hours of an episode of Criminal Minds. "This only happens on TV!" I thought to myself. When we had finally come down to the boat as we were greeted by several police officers. We looked around us at the beach and the hills along the water's edge. There were so many dead there! We were helped aboard and drove off on the ferry.
Me, Thianna Mamie og Hana hugged each other We cried and screamed, We were extatic that we survived The first time I truly felt safe was when we had gotten over to the other sideWe were driven to Bærum hospital and from there were picked up by my parents and uncle
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