Patricia Zuccala was with her 10-year-old daughter at a hotel buffet on the last day of their vacation in Panama when last Friday’s devastating earthquakes struck the Central American country. All of a sudden, the Montreal woman says the ground was shaking violently, sending statues and decorations crashing to the ground. “Everybody tried to make a beeline for the exit, but unfortunately, [my daughter] was almost trampled. There were people trying to jump on top of her and push her through the door. At that point I made the executive decision to grab her, and we dove under a table and covered our heads,” she told CTV News in a video interview. “I’ve never experienced anything like that, and I was more afraid for my daughter’s life.” Damage was reported in all of Panama’s 10 provinces and two territories after the 7.7- and 6.6-magnitude earthquakes on Friday, which toppled buildings near the epicentre and prompted evacuations. Seismologists recorded more than 100 aftershocks, including ones measuring magnitude 5.8, 5.5 and 5.2. The government of Panama declared a state of emergency on Saturday. After reaching outside the hotel after the tremors, Zuccala said she saw large cracks in her hotel building in Río Hato, a coastal city about two hours southwest of Panama City. “Many people got injured from things falling. People were bleeding all on their legs. For example, somebody tried to protect a family from a falling object and really scraped his arm as well. There was damage everywhere,” she said. She said she was lucky that she and her daughter weren’t physically injured, but has been stranded for two days with no clear indication yet when she can fly back home. Zuccala said she has been getting conflicting information from her travel provider, Sunwing, about when she can fly home. For example, she said WestJet mistakenly sent her an email that her flight was redirected to Cancun, Mexico, and then being told there were no flights available. She also has not heard back from the Canadian government after contacting the embassy in Panama City and registering as a Canadian abroad. In the meantime, she said Sunwing has covered her hotel accommodation for the past two nights, but she and her daughter are anxious to get home. “It’s been very, very emotionally difficult. My daughter continues to feel the ground shake around her, even when it’s not. There have been hundreds of aftershocks, though, so I understand why she feels that way. Some aftershocks have been almost as strong as the original earthquake, so the trauma has been significant for both of us,” Zuccala said. “It would be nice to feel like … the Canadian government was working with the agencies to help Canadians get out of this. This was a truly scary, devastating, traumatizing event that all of these families have gone through, and we feel very abandoned.” CTV News has requested more information about her situation by contacting Sunwing and Global Affairs Canada, both of which said they are looking into it. With files from The Associated Press
