More than 160 people have been confirmed dead so far following a 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Colombia.
Rescue workers are working to free victims trapped in buildings, while many patients are trapped following the collapse of a hospital.
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Rescue efforts across western Colombia continue as emergency workers dig through destroyed buildings and flattened homes, amid expectations that the death toll from the country’s strongest earthquake in decades could rise.
The 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Colombia early Monday, killing at least 164 people.
The quake reduced high-rise buildings to rubble in cities such as Pereira and Cali and completely destroyed one of the towers of a historic cathedral in the city of Manizales.
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Emergency response teams, with the help of police, soldiers, and volunteers, worked through the night with excavators and even with their bare hands, searching for survivors beneath the rubble. In Cali, home to approximately 2.2 million people, at least 85 people were killed. Dozens of buildings were completely destroyed, forcing residents onto the streets.
Several of the top floors of one of the city’s hospitals—some of which specialized in pediatric care — collapsed, trapping patients and forcing about 600 others to be treated on a street littered with rubble, said hospital director Irne Torres Castro.
The country’s president, Abelardo De La Espriela, who took office a few days ago, said that 35 people died in Cali alone, while 188 are missing. He said that 1,000 members of the security forces would be deployed to the city following reports of looting. Cali, as well as Pereira, imposed a curfew on Monday night.
“Our intention is to cooperate in every necessary way. Here, there is no discrimination or ideological division when it comes to defending our people or showing solidarity,” said De La Espriela.
The disaster has been compared to a deadly earthquake in 1999 that devastated the same region—known for its coffee cultivation—killing more than 1,000 people, as well as to devastating earthquakes that killed more than 6,300 people in neighboring Venezuela in June.
Source: KYPE
