Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Rescuers in Colombia reported apparent signs of life under the rubble in two of the cities worst hit by this week’s powerful earthquake, raising hopes on Friday that more survivors may still be found. The 7.4-magnitude quake struck the South American country on Monday and has killed at least 285 people, while affecting more than 100,000 others.
Even as the search continued, Colombia was also turning to the task of rebuilding after widespread destruction to homes, schools, medical facilities and community centres. President Abelardo de la Espriella said the government would work with private companies on reconstruction and provide support to families left homeless.
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Search and rescue teams from Venezuela, Argentina and Israel joined local efforts as the window for survival narrowed 96 hours after the tremor. In Pereira, Mayor Mauricio Salazar told radio station FM on Friday that “contact was made with a woman who was asking for help amid the rubble” of a collapsed hotel at around 4 am. He said others may also have survived but remain trapped.
Authorities in Cali also reported apparent signs of life, saying at least three people were trapped under collapsed buildings. The search and rescue effort has been extended through Saturday.
With the broader search for survivors slowing, the scale of the damage was becoming clearer. The government said tens of thousands of houses were damaged or destroyed, and authorities also reported damage to thousands of schools, medical facilities and community centres in more than 400 cities.
“There is no place to live, we lost everything,” said Ebert Jonathan Morales, 38, speaking from a shelter in Cali. Morales is among the 102,263 people affected by the quake. The government says nearly 4,000 people were injured and hundreds remain missing, while private groups estimate the missing are in the thousands.
Morales said he, his wife and their four children were trying to rebuild from scratch. “The earthquake destroyed several neighbourhoods in the city. Many houses were damaged, and buildings collapsed,” he said. “We are going to stay here until the government gives us some help, some support.”
The devastation has tested de la Espriella, who was sworn in only days before the earthquake hit western Colombia. He said on Thursday night that “the situation is complex” and announced plans to partner with private companies for rebuilding, along with subsidies for homeless families. “We will not overcome this tragedy alone as a government,” he said. “We need the private sector to rebuild Colombia together.”
Monday’s earthquake was the strongest to hit Colombia this century. In some areas, government aid has still not arrived, and many people are relying on neighbours and volunteers. “A neighbour is giving me shelter,” said Olga Castro, a mother of five in Cali. “At least we survived, but right now we are practically on the street because we don’t have a home anymore.”
De la Espriella said national and international funds raised after the quake would be used to rebuild hospitals, schools, homes, roads and airports. Yezid Alvarado Vargas, a professor of construction engineering at Javeriana University in Bogota, said rebuilding required a “serious technical assessment” to decide which buildings could still be used, which could be repaired and which had to be demolished and rebuilt. “Before even discussing reconstruction, we must guarantee temporary housing, food, healthcare, continuity of basic services and economic support for families who lost their homes or livelihoods,” Alvarado said.
In Bogota, around 500 volunteers gathered at a reception centre to sort food, toiletries and pet food for distribution in the worst-affected areas. “We all have to help. Today is for you, tomorrow might be for me,” said 85-year-old volunteer Jorge Munoz, one of the oldest people helping at Bogota’s Vive Claro aid collection. He said he had seen the impact of other earthquakes, including one in 1999 that killed more than 1,180 people.
Authorities have turned schools, parks and public buildings into shelters, providing tents, mattresses and food for displaced people. In other badly hit cities, residents have set up makeshift shelters on the streets, while volunteers are trying to reach remote areas. Maria Mercedes Lievano, director of Save the Children in Colombia, said: “These are isolated, neglected territories, historically lacking in institutional support, already plagued by violence, and now they are hit by an earthquake of this magnitude.” She added, “It’s a crisis on top of a crisis, leaving the population in a situation of extreme vulnerability,” referring to places including Buenaventura, the country’s main port, and Choco, the quake’s epicentre.
In Pereira, many buildings have limited or no access to electricity and water, and volunteers have been distributing hygiene kits in shelters, according to Pamela Londono, a technical adviser with Project HOPE. She said at least one of the city’s five or six shelters was already full and no longer taking new residents, while the group was also assessing medical supply needs. In Roldanillo, about 60 per cent of residents do not have access to clean water. “The main concern is the lack of basic services for multiple communities,” Londono said. “This is a really critical situation.”
De la Espriella travelled to several cities, including Quibdo in the Choco region and Pereira, to review relief work and aid distribution. Authorities are still waiting for tonnes of supplies and humanitarian aid from countries that have pledged support, including Peru, China, the US and the United Arab Emirates. “My heart, my strength and my spirit are with all the victims and with all these territories that have been forgotten and now devastated by nature,” he said. “We must rebuild them. There is a great task ahead and I am committed to it.”
As rescuers continue searching through the rubble in the hope of finding more survivors, Colombia is also facing the much larger challenge of sheltering the displaced, restoring basic services and rebuilding areas devastated by the earthquake.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
