I met Sandowsky and his daughter at Santo Tomas Hospital. When the Ateneo fire began, she and her mother fell and were crushed near the front door by the rush of people trying to get out. Her mother died right there, while she, of stronger build, escaped with the aid of Leo Martinez and a priest.

"There I was, a dead body on top and others all around me. I bit one woman on the arm and she jumped clear off me. So then I bit a boy and that brought him back to consciousness ... then, aided by Leo and that priest, I was able to extricate myself." Leo kept going in and out to help people and is missing himself.

Jack Tani was at home in L. Guerrero Street, Ermita, with his wife, son and 11 other relatives when the fires forced them to move to the Ateneo. He said that a "screaming shell" landed in the third floor of that building and started a number of rapidly spreading fires.

The crowd started a stampede for the large doors, only one of which was open; the other was still bolted but could've been easily opened if the crowd hadn't panicked. When one refugee attempted to push his cart through the door, it promptly got jammed with the streaming crowd. That did it: as people climbed over the pushcart, some fell and others climbed on top and crushed them.

Jack, separated from his wife, son and family in the crush, dove through the mass blocking the front door. He got tangled up in arms and legs until he became one of the trampled. Strength and sheer desperation drove him on until he finally got through.

Outside now, he screamed for his wife and son until the building was gutted. Like a wild man, he staggered around the streets cursing, unaware of crashing shells, flying shrapnel and debris. Eventually his brother found him and told him ALL of his family were OK and at the PGH. The news sobered him in a flash. He remembered seeing "numerous" dead and wounded in the streets on his way to the PGH and a wild family reunion.

If Jack had been content to let well enough alone, the worst of his ordeals would have been over, but he ventured out to look for a better room or ward. Spotting a ward that looked clean, he entered for a better look just as a shell hit. When he recovered consciousness, the smell of burnt flesh and the sight of dismembered limbs almost caused him to pass out again. His right leg had a couple of deep pits where the flesh had been cut away while his left leg and back had received shrapnel hits. There was no medicine immediately available, but he was picked up, rushed to a table where his wounds were washed with soap and water.

continues...