A 32-year-old woman was pulled alive from the wreckage of a collapsed building in Colombia, prompting cheers and applause as weary rescuers continued their search for others trapped beneath the ruins after the country’s strongest earthquake in a century.
The dramatic rescue took place in Pereira, where soldiers, firefighters and volunteers were working across western Colombia following a 7.4-magnitude earthquake that killed at least 241 people and left more than 1,600 injured.
- Advertisement -
The woman’s mother said the family had begun to lose hope until a telephone call brought news that she had been found. A local resident reportedly heard cries beneath the debris and began clearing rubble with neighbours before professional rescue teams reached the site.
“Thanks to him, today we’re happy,” she said. “At home her 12-year-old son is waiting for her.”
By nightfall, families were preparing to sleep in parks as aftershocks shook neighbourhoods where entire blocks had been reduced to rubble.
The scale of the destruction placed intense pressure on hospitals and emergency services, turning the response into one of Colombia’s biggest disaster operations in years.
In Cali, residents worked alongside firefighters, using picks, shovels and their bare hands to search through collapsed buildings.
People removed debris carried in buckets from collapsed buildings
Every few minutes, rescuers paused to shout into the wreckage and listen for an answer.
“We’re doing this with our hands, with gloves,” said one volunteer. “It’s sad to see time slipping away.”
In Pereira, army units moved through the ruins with sniffer dogs, searching amid twisted concrete and shards of exposed steel.
At one location, a rescue squad leader suddenly raised his fist, ordering the workers to stop so the team could listen for any indication that someone was still alive.
Volunteers formed human chains, passing bricks and broken masonry from one person to the next as they opened routes into the collapsed structures.
Some families remained anxiously awaiting word about missing relatives, while others confronted the loss of their homes, belongings and sources of income.
“We lost everything,” said one woman, fighting back tears after escaping the collapse of her home.
“We survived by a miracle, since I managed to get my little boy out and my partner managed to get out too.”
Rescue workers search for survivors following Colombia’s strongest earthquake in a century
Viewed from the air, sections of Cali appeared flattened, with grey mountains of debris standing where rows of homes and apartment buildings had once been.
Cars were crushed beneath fallen walls and heavy concrete slabs in nearby streets.
On one pile of rubble, a young couple climbed across the broken masonry, searching for anything they could recover.
Among the items they found was a box taken from a child’s bright red bedside table.
Many survivors spent the night outside, either because their homes were too badly damaged or because they feared further aftershocks.
In Pereira, one park became a makeshift shelter filled with tents and mattresses.
“We lost everything, but we’re alive,” said a 23-year-old man, who was staying there with his wife and seven-month-old son.
“We’ve never had to do this before, to depend on someone else to help us. It’s amazing how life can change.”
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Part of Cali’s Hospital Universitario del Valle collapsed during the earthquake, forcing doctors to transfer patients to a car park, where some were treated in the open air.
Even as the destruction spread, Colombians across the affected areas mobilised to support one another.
Thousands delivered water, food and other supplies to damaged neighbourhoods, while long queues formed outside blood donation centres.
“It’s about wanting to help your community, your city and your country,” said one person after donating blood.
President Abelardo de la Espriella declared a state of emergency and pledged rent subsidies for affected families during a visit to Pereira yesterday.
The United States announced $15.5 million in emergency aid, while messages of solidarity and offers of assistance came from around the world.
With aftershocks continuing to shake the damaged cities, rescue teams carried on working through the ruins, listening for any voice, knock or whistle that could signal another survivor.
Watch: moment baby pulled alive from earthquake rubble
