T HE SPECIAL VIDEO CALL. By: Jessica Paniagua and María Mangas

I was drinking a beer with some friends when I got a call. It was a video call from Claire, my girlfriend. She was travelling in the Canary Islands with her family. I moved to a site to listen to her better. She was showing me the Teide volcano on the phone when a terrible eruption started.

People began to scream and run at the other side of the phone. I saw my girlfriend with a scary face and suddenly the call was cut. I tried to call her again but her mobile was off. Afterwords, I was shocked so I returned home. I turned the TV on and the first image that I saw was a volcano eruption. I began to feel worried for Claire and her family and at that moment I reacted.

I called her hotel and some Canary hospitals but nobody knew about her. One hour later I was driving to the airport and some time later I arrived there. There was a big mess. I went to the last place where I had seen Claire. Obviously, the police didn’t let me get close.

Now, three months later We are at Claire and her family’s funeral. They died and nobody could do anything.