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Colombia earthquake: Search for over 100 missing prioritized as death toll nears 300
🇲🇽 Mexico /Disasters & Emergencies

Colombia earthquake: Search for over 100 missing prioritized as death toll nears 300

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Rescue teams are prioritizing the search for over 100 missing people after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia.
  • The earthquake, with its epicenter in San José del Palmar, Chocó, has resulted in 289 deaths, 4,187 injuries, and 143 people still unaccounted for.
  • President Abelardo de la Espriella declared a national disaster and economic emergency, focusing on saving lives and addressing the significant damage to schools and healthcare facilities.

As time runs out to find survivors of the powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake that devastated western Colombia, rescue efforts are now focused on locating more than 100 missing individuals. President Abelardo de la Espriella stated Sunday that saving lives is the top priority.

The quake, which struck last Monday with its epicenter in San José del Palmar, Chocó, has provisionally claimed 289 lives, injured 4,187 people, and left 143 people still missing. "The instruction is to attend to this emergency with the missing because the most important thing here is to save lives," De la Espriella emphasized during a press conference from the Buenaventura Naval Base.

The instruction is to attend to this emergency with the missing because the most important thing here is to save lives.

— Abelardo de la EspriellaPresident of Colombia, emphasizing the priority of finding missing persons after the earthquake.

The situation has severely impacted the education sector, with 2,838 schools affected. Classes will move online, though a restart date for the academic cycle has not yet been set. The president also pledged necessary financial resources for healthcare, including bolstering medical teams and ensuring timely transfers of critical patients to more capable hospitals.

the window of hope of finding people under the rubble alive is closing

— Roni KaplanSpokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces, commenting on the search and rescue efforts.

International rescue teams, including one from Israel, are working alongside Colombian authorities. Captain Roni Kaplan of the Israeli Defense Forces noted that the window for finding survivors under the rubble is closing but offered words of encouragement to affected families. The Israeli team, one of three foreign groups authorized by the Colombian government, reported recovering four bodies from a collapsed building in Cali.

The earthquake has left 186,000 people affected, destroyed 26,945 homes, damaged 127,557 others, and caused 66 buildings to collapse. The recently inaugurated president faces one of his government's greatest challenges, having declared a national disaster and economic emergency.

we are doing the impossible, we embrace you with our soul

— Roni KaplanSpokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces, offering encouragement to affected families.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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