PEREIRA, Colombia – Rescue teams have pulled 32-year-old Daniela Largo alive from the rubble of a collapsed building after she spent 36 hours trapped following a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in western Colombia.
Firefighters and national police disaster teams carried out a complex 10-hour rescue operation, digging two tunnels beneath four concrete slabs to provide Largo with oxygen and reach her safely. Okay News reports that at least 188 people have died across the affected region, including 79 in Pereira and 95 in Cali.
President Abelardo de la Espriella praised the rescuers after Largo was brought to safety as emergency teams continued searching for hundreds of people reported missing or trapped in damaged buildings.
Authorities in Cali have imposed a nighttime curfew and deployed military personnel to affected areas to help secure disaster zones and support rescue efforts.
The earthquake struck Choco province on Monday and has since been followed by more than 100 aftershocks. The tremors have destroyed dozens of buildings across the region, including parts of Colombia’s coffee-growing area.
Rescue operations are continuing as emergency workers assess damaged infrastructure and search for survivors in areas where buildings collapsed or remain unstable.
