Ecuador: Canadian expats tell their story of losing family in earthquake

The house didn’t stand a chance. It fell like a house of cards

cbc.ca reported a Quebec father and daughter are sharing their story about the tragic event that cut their family in half in Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador.

Pascal Laflamme and his 13-year-old daughter, Laurie-Ann, were slightly injured when the ceiling of their apartment collapsed in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Ecuador on April 16. But Laflamme’s wife, Jennifer Mawn, and their 12-year-old son Arthur were killed. “I don’t think we can say we’re doing well, that would be a little delusional,” a sombre Laflamme told Radio-Canada’s Alain Gravel in an interview Monday.

“Given the circumstances, we’re doing relatively well.”
‘She told us she loved us’

Laflamme was in the family’s apartment video-chatting with his parents in Quebec when the quake hit.

Although Laflamme said he later heard the shaking lasted up to a minute, it was only about 10 seconds before part of the concrete ceiling fell on him, knocking him out.

“When I woke up, I was in nothing less than a small tomb barely the size of a coffin,” Laflamme recalled. Read Article

SAFETY, SECURITY, HEALTH IN ECUADOR – READ THIS BOOK