The scale of the damage
The first volunteers arrive to find desolation on an unimaginable scale.
On their arrival the volunteers are taken aback by the scale of the devastation even though they are trained in providing emergency assistance and had already seen detailed reports in the media.
Eyewitness accounts
"As if an atomic bomb had gone off but without the fire.Only trees, no houses.There were terrible images, it was sheer devastation, as if the area had been bombarded, erased from the map. It was a heap of wood and twisted metal".
Jean-Charles Rochart, Veolia Water employee in France"When I arrived, three weeks after the disaster, the village was razed to the ground and in ruins. A disaster whose scale was much greater than anything you could imagine from watching the TV or from reading the press".
Mohamed Yassine, Water Operations Manager in Rabat, Morocco"Overwhelming. It surpassed anything you could possibly imagine"
Christine Bailly, technician at the CAE laboratory in Florange, France."It's true, when we saw the number of victims and those who were still missing on the list, it's true it was a shock. I think there were about a dozen houses left standing, that was all, you know, in the village. It breaks your heart".
Christian Brandebourger, technician, Sade, France"The children had nothing, no food, water or clothes".
Wan Hadib Wan Zain, technician and interpreter, Veolia Water Malaysia.