Shafaqna Pakistan: Rescue teams on Tuesday sifted through huge piles of rubble in western Colombia, calling for silence as they listened for signs of survivors trapped beneath buildings destroyed by a powerful earthquake that has killed at least 250 people.
The 7.4-magnitude quake, the deadliest to hit Colombia this century, struck the country’s coffee-growing heartland early Monday, leaving apartment buildings, homes, schools and health centres damaged, tilted or completely destroyed.
Separate reports from affected cities put the death toll at 254 by Tuesday morning. Pereira, in the heart of the coffee region, reported 101 fatalities, while 95 people were killed in Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city.
Many Indigenous communities in the forested Pacific-facing region of Choco close to the quake epicenter are still without power or basic services, complicating rescue efforts.
The earthquake struck just days after the inauguration of new President Abelardo De La Espriella, who traveled to the affected regions and promised economic support to people who lost their homes.
The government, which announced immediate austerity measures as it came into power, is currently preparing to revise a more than $180 billion budget prepared by their leftist predecessors.
The National Coffee Federation was working on the ground with families to assess damage to farms and rural infrastructure, its chief German Bahamon said on social media.
Meanwhile, rescuers worked through Monday night and Tuesday with cranes, excavators and their bare hands, creating human chains and passing buckets filled with debris as they searched for people still trapped.
NIGHTMARE SCENES
Rosa Gonzalez described how she escaped the guest house she ran in Pereira with her husband and 10-month-old baby.
“The structure started creaking and just as we ran outside the building collapsed,” she said, speaking to Reuters as she stroked her cat, who was rescued during the night. Though eight made it out alive, an elderly man was trapped on a terrace and she feared he may be among the people killed.
Social media influencer Jose Gallego had just arrived at Pereira airport when the earthquake struck. He was recording a live video, capturing footage of violent shaking as he crouched under a table and parts of the ceiling fell.
“There were people injured, bleeding, screaming and trying to reach their families,” he said. Unable to sleep, Gallego said he was staying in open spaces in case of aftershocks. Over 100 aftershocks had been recorded as of Tuesday afternoon.
“I crossed the city on foot; it took two hours and the scenes were devastating,” he told Reuters. “It was like a nightmare come to life.”
Thousands of people were left homeless as the earthquake brought down apartment complexes and left deep cracks in homes, leaving families to await safety assessments outside.
Alberto Machado, 34, told Reuters the quake struck after he dropped off his son at school. It destroyed their Cali home, leaving his wife, mother-in-law and two young children to spend the night at a neighbor’s house, unsure of their next steps.
He spoke outside a sports center that prepared to host 60 people overnight, including 30 elderly people from a damaged nursing home.
Dog and cat shelters also put out calls for food, medicine and helping hands.
Source: Dunya News
