CNN correspondent Barbie Nadeau was nearing the end of a Facebook Live Wednesday afternoon in Saletto, Italy, answering a viewer’s question about the condition of the city’s roads, when a building collapsed directly behind her.
For a few dramatic moments, the crew could be heard scrambling for cover as a cloud of dust rose up behind a fence.
“Oh man. Geez,” Nadeau said in between breaths, while asking her producer if she was still live. She then continued her live session and explained that cracks in the house had been widening all day and they’d been concerned this might happen.
Skip to 9:20 to see the moment.
“We were very concerned that this might happen and in fact it did,” she said, wondering if it could have been a result of a tremor.
Nadeau then signed off, saying they needed to stay safe in a situation that seems to get worse every hour.
Speaking afterward, Nadeau said her producer had wanted the team to get as far away as they could so they would be safe, but the correspondent and her photographer thought it would be okay.
She said they moved their van moments before the live shot, just in case the structure fell.
“This really shows how incredibly dangerous the situation is here, it really hits home when you see the rubble and dust for yourself,” said Nadeau.
“It was shocking to see this home collapse right in front of us, knowing that it belonged to people and now it’s gone,” she said. “It’s nothing for us, we’re fine, but you really feel for the people here and what they have lost. You think of the terror they would have felt when they were lying in their beds when the earthquake hit. It really is just so sad.”
More than 70 people were killed in the 6.2 magnitude earthquake, and dozens remain missing. Rescuers are struggling to reach some remote towns, and one, Amatrice, “is no more,” according to its mayor.
