Mountaineer Helps 14 Colleagues Abseil to Safety from Collapsed Building

Imagine being on the sixth floor of a 17-story building when an earthquake hits, and suddenly the internal stairwell is just a gaping hole. That's what happened here at the Forsyth Barr tower in downtown Christchurch.

John Haynes, a 64-year-old government worker, was right there on the sixth floor when the quake struck on Tuesday. He said debris crashed through the building, and the "guts of the building fell down 17 storeys," leaving them with just a shell.

They were stranded in the dark, worried the building might collapse or catch fire. That's when Haynes, a climbing enthusiast, started thinking about how to get out. His mountaineering training kicked in. He looked at the emergency equipment in the building, which included ropes and a sledgehammer. He used his skills to help 14 of his colleagues abseil to safety. After getting everyone else down, he then made his own escape.