Earthquake 2 : Nkanka

The Catholic Church at Nkanka, about 10km from where we live, was the scene of the single biggest loss of life in the earthquake. We went there on Monday as part of our visits to the area. As we arrived, the funeral service was under way : a huge crowd of about 2000 people in the open air. Catholic singing here is quite different from that of Protestant churches : the tunes have much more of a European influence in them. The overcast sky, the humid early evening atmosphere, the liturgy broadcast through a very poor PA system and the haunting music made it quite an unforgettable experience.
There was a sudden flurry of activity in the middle of the crowd. It soon emerged that the burials were taking place. No solemn or demure or slow activity here - these men were working very hard and fast with hoes. As the crowd began to disperse, we were able to see that all 13 bodies had been buried beside each other. 13 mounds of earth covered with flowers and marked with simple wooden crosses carrying the names and birth years of those killed. A very sobering sight and yet there was little outward sign of grief among the people gathered.
We moved on to look at the church. Like many Catholic places of worship here, it’s a beautiful building to an original design - quite old and made of stone with large windows made of stained glass - not in small sections as in Britain, but huge panes. The atmosphere inside was lovely and there was little sign of damage, simply a thin coating of dust and small pieces of debris. This is one of the ironies of this particular incident. The instinct to leave buildings when an earthquake strikes is, believe me, very strong, but if people had stayed inside they would have been safe. It was the collapsing bell-tower at the main entrance and the stampede of people leaving which caused the deaths. Those inside or leaving by the side entrances would have been OK.