Text From NZ Rubble: 'Mommy, I Got Buried'

Stats about the missing and the dead say so much about tragedies like the one that struck New Zealand—the reality comes through in harrowing texts, like that from 23-year-old Louise Amantillo. "Mommy, I got buried" she texted on Tuesday from the rubble of her collapsed language school in Christchurch, the AP reports. "Mommy, I can't move my right hand," went out about 40 minutes later.

Louise then called her mother briefly—"Her voice was shaking, like she was really scared. I know she was in pain," says her mother. A number of other messages came in over the next few hours, including "The smoke is overwhelming," before a final missive: "Please make it quick." Authorities believe almost no one under the ruins of the language school is still alive, but Amantillo's family is holding out hope. (More New Zealand stories.)