A Canadian woman described her experience being trapped in a movie theatre with her family for six days due to the dangerous bushfires in Australia.
CNN reports Meaghan Wegg,34, her husband Tim Buckley, 37, and their two children Georgia, 3, and Jackson, 5, became stuck in a small movie theatre along with 500 people for six days to escape the bushfires in Mallacoota. The family flew from Montreal, Canada to visit friends and family on December 17 for the holidays at the Mallacoota Campground.
On New Year’s Eve, Wegg and her family decided to go to the beach but had to leave the area immediately after staying for more than an hour:
“We had a blast and stayed longer than we usually would have to keep cool in the water, took our time to get back in the air conditioning and as soon as we got there we had a 10-minute ‘get out ASAP’ call and the sirens were going off.”
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Due to the rapid movement of the bushfires, Wegg and her family set up camp at another beach then to the movie theatre. The family slept on a mat and kept their children entertained by keeping their iPads charged for six days.
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“We had to line up to get our name on a list, then they took kids under 5 and families to be in air-evacuated lines — and the rest on the boat. Helicopters kept trying to land but it was too smoky.”
Although the family drove through the bushfires to be rescued via helicopter, they had to wait for the smoke to clear.
“By 11 p.m. they delivered sad news. Took us back in the shuttle to get to the shelter. We slept on the floor at the cinema but the Red Cross ladies were super-supportive and helpful,”
Eventually, Wegg and her family were rescued and were transported to a different location for safety.
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