By Greg Fry

Kamloops couple survives Mexico quake

Sep 20, 2017 | 9:52 AM

KAMLOOPS — It’s a bye week the assistant coach of the Kamloops Broncos will never forget.

Darryl Chow was in Mexico with his wife this week when a deadly earthquake hit Tuesday.

He was actually at the airport in Mexico City preparing to head home when the temblor struck.

“We were in a downstairs lounge. The sound was deafening and the shaking was unbelievably intense. The emergency lights went on, elevators shut down and people were panicking trying to scramble up a narrow stairway,” said Chow. “My wife and I were up against a wall and rode it out there rather than just join the crush. A surreal moment as the quake subsided was when some eldery gent in a suit and tie was standing on a chair toasting with his glass of tequila while people around him were scrambling and screaming.”

Luckily there were no aftershocks. In Mexico visiting his daughter-in-law, he said she survived and her apartment building was intact though “from her window she could see smoke and damage throughout the neighbourhood.”

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With the Broncos having a bye week, Chow said he and his wife decided to take an extended trip to Mexico to visit family.

Originally he said his goal was to be back in Kamloops for a team practice Tuesday night to prepare for this weekend’s big game versus the Okanagan Sun.

But due to the earthquake their flight to Phoenix was cancelled, though they managed to book a flight last night to Dallas and are due to arrive in Vancouver today.

Tuesday’s 7.1 magnitude quake killed at least 225 people.