Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Tops 200 as Rescue Efforts Continue
The Colombia earthquake has killed more than 200 people, and rescuers are still pulling survivors from rubble in Pereira and Cali. Authorities declared a national disaster as the rescue window narrows.
WESTERN COLOMBIA — The Colombia earthquake that struck western Colombia has killed more than 200 people, according to a CNN count based on reports from officials, as emergency crews race to find survivors in collapsed buildings.
The government declared a national disaster, world leaders offered assistance, and rescue teams kept working in Pereira and Cali even as the crucial window for finding people alive narrowed.
Search operations stretched into Tuesday and Wednesday after the magnitude 7.4 quake hit. In Pereira, AP reported applause as rescuers pulled a 32-year-old woman from the ruins of a collapsed building after she had been trapped for 36 hours. In the same city, rescue workers cut through debris while searching for others who may still be beneath the rubble.
It was a grim scene. And it kept repeating.
Colombia earthquake rescue efforts intensify
CNN said rescue workers and volunteers formed a human chain in Pereira to help save people trapped after the quake. The network also aired dramatic video from Cali showing the rescue of a baby from under rubble. Brian Osorio Zuluaga, who was at work in Cali when the earthquake struck, rushed home on his motorcycle before stopping at a collapsed five-story residential complex, La Torre del Limonar.
Osorio shouted into the wreckage and then asked everyone around him to be silent. He heard a faint reply from inside: “Yes, I’m here. I’m with a baby,” he said. Seven other people helped him clear debris, and several held up a large concrete slab while others made a path to reach the baby. Osorio handed the child to a police officer, who took the boy to an ambulance. Firefighters later pulled out the man.
In the rubble, Osorio said he saw clothes, shoes and a stuffed animal covered in dust. He thought about the people who might still be trapped.
National disaster and aid pressure
The earthquake’s toll is not only measured in deaths. AP reported that rescue teams are pushing up against a key time threshold to locate survivors with signs of life, while people in damaged neighborhoods camped out in a park two days after the quake.
DW said Colombia has begun three days of mourning for the victims. The same report said the newly inaugurated president pledged support for affected communities, while the government declared a national emergency and appealed for international assistance.
That matters beyond the rescue zone. Food distribution will be crucial in the coming days, a senior UN worker warned, and one indigenous leader living near the epicenter said they had yet to receive help. For survivors, the next hours are about shelter, water and basic supplies. For authorities, it is about keeping people alive after the sirens fade.
On the ground, rescuers kept digging. AP showed volunteers and rescue workers using buckets to remove debris in Cali, while patients from a damaged clinic were moved to a temporary facility in a gymnasium at a nearby school. In Pereira, Jairo Vargas traveled from Medellin to help look for his missing brother.
The latest confirmed detail from the scene remains stark: a 32-year-old woman was pulled from the ruins after 36 hours.
