Colombia earthquake: Cali hospital wing collapses, patients moved to tents

Cali, Colombia – A powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake that shook Colombia on Monday caused significant damage to a major hospital in Cali, forcing medical staff to relocate patients and services. A wing of the Hospital Universitario del Valle Evaristo García (HUV), a leading high-complexity care center in southwestern Colombia, partially collapsed.

Videos of the partial building collapse, featuring a yellow circular facade with large windows, quickly went viral on social media, illustrating the earthquake's severity in Cali, the capital of Valle del Cauca department and the country's third-largest city. The damage necessitated the transfer of some patients and services to tents set up in the hospital's parking lot and green spaces.

The potent earthquake, which struck at 7:34 a.m. local time with its epicenter in San José del Palmar, Chocó department, caused panic among patients, their families, and hospital staff. Governor of Valle del Cauca, Dilian Francisca Toro, visited the hospital and thanked rescue workers for saving those trapped.

The impact of the earthquake's damage to the HUV is severe, as it serves as a referral center for patients with complex conditions from Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Nariño, and Chocó departments. Opened in 1956, the hospital has a history of responding to major emergencies, including a 1956 dynamite explosion that killed over 1,000 people. Now, 70 years later, its own infrastructure is affected.

Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder reported that the quake has caused 15 deaths and 380 injuries in the city. Over 30 buildings have collapsed in Cali, with people still trapped in some, raising fears that the death toll could rise. Four hospitals, including HUV, Clínica Nuestra Cali, Clínica Dessa, and Clínica Colombia, have sustained structural damage.

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The damage suffered by this building forced medical staff to move some patients and their services to tents installed in the parking lot and green areas of the hospital complex.