A three-month-old baby was rescued alive from the rubble of a five-story building that collapsed in Cali, following the earthquake that hit Colombia on Monday.
3-month-old baby is rescued from rubble in Colombia; Mother remains buried
A three-month-old baby was rescued alive from the rubble of a five-story building that collapsed in Cali, following the earthquake that hit Colombia on Monday. Little Salomón was rescued along with his father, Juan David Gómez, and the two...
Valentina's friends and colleagues — including architects, engineers and construction workers — joined emergency teams and firefighters in the search. "We do not have a confirmed exact location of Valentina, nor any indication that she is alive," friend Alejandra Montoya explained to CNN on Wednesday.
- "Juan David said she was about 3 or 4 meters in front of him, so a little closer to the entrance, so she ended up inside the structure, and it's been very difficult to find her," Montoya...
- More than 20 people were rescued alive from the same complex in the first 12 hours after the earthquake, according to Reuters.
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Little Salomón was rescued along with his father, Juan David Gómez, and the two are recovering in the hospital, while rescue teams continue their desperate search for the baby's mother, Valentina Vanegas Galiano, a 29-year-old architect who remains trapped under the rubble of the same building, Torres del Limonar.
Valentina's friends and colleagues — including architects, engineers and construction workers — joined emergency teams and firefighters in the search.
"We do not have a confirmed exact location of Valentina, nor any indication that she is alive," friend Alejandra Montoya explained to CNN on Wednesday.
"Juan David said she was about 3 or 4 meters in front of him, so a little closer to the entrance, so she ended up inside the structure, and it's been very difficult to find her," Montoya added.
More than 20 people were rescued alive from the same complex in the first 12 hours after the earthquake, according to Reuters. Since then, three other people and a dog have also been found alive.
Three-month-old Salomón suffered some scratches and a small blow to the head, while his father is recovering from surgery that he had to undergo after the rescue.
The two were located after a pedestrian heard Juan David Gómez's cry for help.
According to the most recent report, the earthquake that hit Colombia on Monday killed at least 265 people, in addition to leaving 3,494 injured and 496 missing, as revealed by President Abelardo de la Espriella, who declared a state of economic emergency.
The Colombian head of state stated, in statements to journalists in Bogotá on Wednesday, that 25,872 families were affected by the earthquake, totaling 53,816 people.
The president assured that the government's efforts are mainly focused on locating the missing and stated that the authorities are working with all available resources, in addition to the international aid that is beginning to arrive in Colombia.
The earthquake also destroyed 11,347 homes and damaged another 53,526, in addition to causing the collapse of 140 buildings, damaging 1,819 schools and affecting 631 community centers, according to the latest report from the National Disaster Risk Management Unit (UNGRD), released by the president.
The earthquake, measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale, according to the Geological Survey of Colombia, had its epicenter near San José del Palmar, in Chocó, one of the poorest provinces in the country.
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