In quake-devastated Ecuador, loss piles up amid the rubble

Published 9:52 am Monday, April 18, 2016

PORTOVIEJO, Ecuador — It was supposed to be a family reunion to celebrate a young relative’s start of college. But the gathering ended in tragedy when a collapsing building crushed 17-year-old Sayira Quinde, her mother, father and toddler brother in their rusting Chevy Blazer.

A grief stricken aunt, Johana Estupinan, now is making the longest journey of her life in a funeral hearse to the town of Esmeraldas, where she will bury her loved ones and break the news of the loss to her sister’s three now orphaned children.

As Ecuador digs out from its strongest earthquake in decades, tales of devastating loss are everywhere amid the rubble. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake left a trail of ruin along Ecuador’s normally placid Pacific Ocean coast, buckling highways, knocking down an air traffic control tower and flattening homes and buildings.

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At least 272 people died, including two Canadians, and thousands are homeless.

President Rafael Correa said early Monday that the death toll would “surely rise, and in a considerable way.”

“The Ecuadorean spirit knows how to move forward, and will know how to overcome these very difficult moments,” Correa said.