Father and baby rescued from Cali earthquake rubble, but mother lost
Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- A father and his two-month-old baby were miraculously rescued from rubble in Cali, Colombia, following a magnitude 7.4 earthquake.
- The father, Juan David, recounted the terrifying moments of the earthquake and the subsequent entrapment, emphasizing his determination to survive for his son.
- Tragically, the baby's mother, Valentina, was found deceased six days after the building collapsed.
In Cali, Colombia, a father and his infant son have been miraculously rescued from the debris of a collapsed building following a devastating magnitude 7.4 earthquake. Juan David and his two-month-old baby, Salomรณn, were found alive after being trapped for days under the rubble.
The rescue, captured in a widely shared video, showed rescuers' astonishment as they discovered the father holding his infant son, who still showed signs of life. Both survivors were immediately transported to a medical center for treatment of injuries sustained during the building's destruction.
It is very difficult to rebuild when everything falls on top of you, literally when in the blink of an eye you lose your wife... Salomรณn and I, thank God, are recovering.
Juan David shared his harrowing experience, describing the chaos and terror of the earthquake. "It is very difficult to rebuild when everything falls on top of you, literally when in the blink of an eye you lose your wife... Salomรณn and I, thank God, are recovering," he told Noticias Caracol. The emotional toll has been immense, compounded by the loss of his wife, Valentina, who was found deceased six days after the building collapsed.
In the blink of an eye, everything went dark because there was dust and debris on top of me... I tried to stay calm because I knew I was with my baby and I knew I had to get out of there.
Recalling the moments of entrapment, Juan David explained that they were evacuating the building when it suddenly collapsed. "In the blink of an eye, everything went dark because there was dust and debris on top of me... I tried to stay calm because I knew I was with my baby and I knew I had to get out of there," he recounted.
The earthquake, which struck on August 10, caused significant damage in several Colombian cities. The survival of Salomรณn and his father offers a glimmer of hope amidst the widespread devastation, though the tragedy is underscored by the loss of Valentina and many others.
I realized that they had not managed to get out and when 72 hours passed and we did not find them (the mother and the baby's uncle), I cried a lot.
Originally published by El Tiempo in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.