Pascal Riche , 9/7/05

Pascal Riche, Montreal, 9/7/05

The line [at the Superdome evacuation] was like the Paris metro at the height of rush hour. We were packed like sardines, we couldn’t even see our feet. We walked on garbage, diapers that exploded sometimes, bottles full, with urine, perhaps. There were also bottles of liquor. This lasted from midday Thursday until Friday morning, a total hell.
People fainted every two or three minutes. We heard cries of “somebody down.” They evacuated people towards the barriers. A pregnant woman’s water broke. Twice we heard gunshot and everyone dove for cover. We didn’t have anything to eat, only water. The soldiers didn’t car. Sometimes they joked amongst themselves. Once, a guy near the barrier had an epileptic attack. He was drooling and everything. We said to the soldiers, “Get him out of here for Christ’s sake!.” But a soldier said, “it will stop and he’ll be alright.”

One time, to amuse themselves, the soldiers threw bottles as hard as they could into the crowd, like in baseball. A woman was hit in the head. The Navy arrived and it was even worse: the soldiers did not stop yelling at us.