In quake-devastated Ecuador, loss piles up amid the rubble
By ALLEN PANCHANA, Associated Press
Published: April 18, 2016, 11:34am
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Residents walk past a row of collapsed buildings felled by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, in Portoviejo, Ecuador, on Monday. The Saturday night quake left a trail of ruin along Ecuador?s normally placid Pacific Ocean coast. At least 350 people died and thousands are homeless. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)Photo Gallery
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.
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