In today’s show on Noticias Directo TV we want to resume our ‘Heroes of Seville’ section with a very interesting interview that will allow us to discover another of the kind and heroic faces of the #SevilleDisaster and its subsequent days. And we are not just talking about someone who acted decisively, driven by the urgency of the tragedy of that day, but about a body made up of people who have been sacrificing for years and offering their time and energy to help society. A group of people who, as it could not be otherwise, knew how to rise to the occasion despite the terrible circumstances in which they found themselves. Yes, as you may have already guessed, we are talking about the Civil Protection Corps of Seville. Specifically, today we bring you the testimony of Nuria Sáez, emergency coordinator at Civil Protection of Seville.

A woman who has been sacrificing her free time, and not so free, for a long time to facilitate the security and smooth development of the major events in the city of Seville. Nuria is forty-four years old and has been in Civil Protection for more than twenty years. She combines work with the profession of psychologist, with her own office, and being the mother of a fourteen-year-old daughter and a twelve-year-old son.

TELL US NURIA, WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE 2012 UA ATTACK STARTED?

Well, it was late afternoon and I was finishing up my last appointment of the day with a patient. My office is located in the center, between Plaza Nueva and the river, so the office windows vibrated strongly with the first explosions on the bridges. As an emergency coordinator in Civil Protection on duty I had direct access to the Whatsapp group together with our links with the local and national police and firefighters. In an instant everyone wrote at the same time and in the end the only thing I got clear was to turn on the television and I would understand.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST REACTION?

To say that I did not feel terror, dread, fear, panic, when seeing that enormous ship over the sky of Seville would be a lie. To be honest I have to admit that I was completely paralyzed. It was my patient, who was trembling and must have been pulling on my hand for a minute to get my attention, that finally brought me out of the trance. I wanted to call my colleagues but the lines were saturated and the mobile Internet connection failed. More and more explosions and strange noises were heard coming from the sky. I was aware that we were facing a tragedy of unimaginable proportions… I knew that every minute of doubt could cost many people their lives. It was clear to me when I saw the terror in the eyes of my patient, whom I asked to go to his house in a hurry. After leaving, I looked in my drawer for the handheld radio I kept for emergencies and ran towards the town hall.

BUT THINGS WERE NOT GOING WELL THERE, WERE THEY?

Not at all, at that time there was almost no one left and only a few people remained under the orders of Councilman Sánchez. I had time to grab some more handheld radios and after sharing the little information we had I decided to head to the Plaza de Armas bus station. My idea was to create an advanced command post and primary care center for the wounded as soon as I managed to coordinate the Civil Protection assets.

HOW DID YOU ACHIEVE IT WITH THE SATURATED PHONE LINES?

With Internet, although it was almost impossible to get a signal from the phone. When I arrived at the town hall I was able to connect to their Wi-Fi network and from there write to the different coordination groups on WhatsApp. I left for the station without even having confirmation that anyone had received any of my messages. Luckily, one of the local police officers accompanied me, gun in hand, during the journey. A trip that normally doesn’t take more than a few minutes but seemed like forever with all the explosions and those damn things flying overhead. On more than one occasion I feared that we would be victims of one of the shots from the large ship…

DESPITE EVERYTHING YOU MANAGED TO ARRIVE…

Yes, we arrived and found an apocalyptic scene. The bridge had completely collapsed into the waters of the river and there were hundreds of people gathered inside the station. Even so, I was extremely happy to meet several colleagues and Civil Protection volunteers who had managed to arrive. They had all brought with them their reflective equipment and whatever they had time to grab. Flashlights, first aid kits, we even had one of the mobile units with two portable stretchers and a tent.

BUT THAT MATERIAL WAS INSUFFICIENT FOR SO MANY PEOPLE, HOW DID YOU ORGANIZED THEM?

The truth is that what we achieved in those first hours was incredible. All fruit of the help of all people. It is evident that people were scared, that they were afraid, that it seemed like the end of the world. But nothing like someone who gave orders and made them occupy their minds so that they wouldn’t fall victim to panic.

AND THAT PERSON WAS YOU…

I had no other option. After arriving I went directly to the station control and coordinated with the person in charge to see how we would organize ourselves. As he gave me the maps of the station, I saw clearly how to divide it and start working to prepare what would be one of the first field hospitals in the city during the attack.

I had doubts about whether I could count on the collaboration of the refugees, but without them it was impossible to implement my plan. So when I started talking over the public address system with the requests for what we needed, I was not at all clear what would happen. When I received the radio notification from my colleagues that there were already several lines of people waiting for their assignment, tears came to my eyes; there really was still hope for our society.

WITHOUT A DOUBT YOU SAVED MANY LIVES, BUT HOW WERE YOU ORGANIZED?

Being so lacking in qualified personnel, we organize all the refugees according to their profession or knowledge. Some dedicated themselves to preparing barricades and protections for the glass areas. Others began to set up different sections of the platforms to accommodate the arriving wounded. We even had several drivers who risked going out with their buses to pick up injured people!

YOU TOOK RISKS AND HAD TO PAY DEARLY…

It’s true, not everyone returned. There was this man, Juan Salas, at that time I didn’t even know his name. On the second outing he wanted to make, his bus was hit by a bright shot and exploded completely.

But it wasn’t just those who went out who took risks. All of us thought we were going to die when one of the Air Force fighter planes crashed in the southwest corner of the station. The entire building shook and a cloud of smoke and dust filled everything. Panic spread for a few moments but we managed to put out the fire and contain the situation.

THE WORK DIDN’T END WITH THE END OF THE BATTLE, RIGHT?

Not at all, it had only just begun. With the arrival of the Army and the end of the battle the task was even more arduous. I had to do the impossible to be able to locate everyone from Civil Protection. At that time I was already back at the town hall, since everything was being coordinated from there. We had to set up dozens of field hospitals, collect corpses, search for survivors from the ruins of buildings. A hell…

YOU WERE LACKING STAFF, RIGHT?

Do you want to believe it? On the contrary. Early the next morning the problem was the opposite. Not only had we gathered all the active Civil Protection colleagues who, well, who had been able to communicate. We had hundreds of volunteers coming to our booths and coordinating through Twitter. But so many people without organization were chaos, so I focused completely on them to ensure that we made good use of their strength and fortitude. Keep in mind that many of them had lost loved ones or had been unable to locate them. The fact that despite everything they were with us determined to help others is something incredible. I already told you that despite everything terrible that happened. That night and the following days I recovered the faith I had lost in humanity…

I DON’T UNDERSTAND YOU, WHY HAD YOU LOST FAITH?

You see, it is ironic to say the least. I had been thinking about leaving Civil Protection for several weeks, perhaps months. When someone has been in Civil Protection for as many years as I have, sacrificing so much of their family and personal time to help others, one ends up burned out. Especially when during many services you see nothing but drunk, drugged, selfish people or have to fight due to the lack of resources and institutional support. I was convinced that I had already done enough. But after the night of the disaster and seeing everyone help in one way or another, I have been given renewed energy. And there is still a lot of work to do… Without a doubt a testimony of those who leave their mark. Thank you very much Nuria for sharing her experience with us and our readers. This is all for now, we will continue to pay attention to all the news in Seville and what happened after the #SevilleDisaster.