A 32-year-old woman, Daniela Largo, was rescued alive in the Colombian city of Pereira after spending 36 hours trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building following a 7.4-magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 188 people and left hundreds missing, according to official figures.
Woman rescued alive after 36 hours trapped under rubble following Colombia earthquake
A 32-year-old woman, Daniela Largo, was rescued alive in the Colombian city of Pereira after spending 36 hours trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building following a 7.4-magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 188 people and left hundreds missing, according to official figures.
Firefighters reached Largo by digging two tunnels beneath four heavy concrete slabs under which she had been buried. One tunnel, dug from above, allowed rescuers to supply her with oxygen, while a second tunnel, dug from below, enabled them to extract her. The rescue operation lasted approximately 10 hours.
According to Largo's mother, a local resident first heard her daughter calling for help from beneath the rubble. Emergency workers subsequently located Largo using a small camera.
Local firefighters were assisted by colleagues deployed from the capital, Bogotá, as well as the disaster response team of the national police force.
In Pereira, which lies in Colombia's coffee-growing region, 79 deaths have been confirmed, making it the city with the second-highest death toll after Cali, where 95 people have died, according to figures from the Association of Colombian Capital Cities (Asocapitales). At least 92 buildings collapsed in Pereira, with 15 people known to be trapped and another 37 reported missing.
In Cali, Colombia's third most populous city, more than 200 people remained trapped as of 16:00 local time on Tuesday, according to the source.
- Largo's own account or condition following her rescue is not reported.
- No breakdown of the total death toll by cause or location beyond Pereira and Cali is provided.
- The current status of search and rescue operations across the broader affected region is not detailed.
- No information is given on the origin or cause of the earthquake or any seismological context.
- France 24 — original — by https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
- BBC News — by Vanessa Buschschlüter
Read the original at France 24