Presents the case of a 7-yr-old girl hospitalized for facial damage suffered during an earthquake in El Assam. At that time it was assumed that she was the only survivor in her family. Since S also suffered from nightmares, she was transferred to a medical-psychological center, where she became attached to her adult companion, showing jealousy when the latter took care of other patients. S's mourning vacillated between denial and acceptance of reality. The first proposal of a return to Algeria was utterly rejected, but eventually she returned home to discover that her parents (but not her brother) were still alive. Her reintegration into the family caused more nightmares and hyperactivity. The literature on child mourning is deficient in a case such as this, without any analysis of the repercussions aggravated by cultural change. Separation anxiety was probably rekindled. S had to learn to accept the coexistence of 2 antithetical situations (dead/alive) and a continuous fear of the disappearence of the living.