Twenty-four hours after the strong earthquake of 7.4 magnitude that shook Colombia on the morning of Monday, August 10, the number of dead and injured continues to grow in the departments of Valle, Chocó, Risaralda, and Caldas.
The president Abelardo De La Espriella confirmed that a total of 134 deaths and more than 300 injuries have been recorded throughout the country.
One of the heavily affected points was the municipality of Calima El Darién, north of Cali, where several homes, institutional buildings, the main church, and two schools in the area collapsed. The most shocking fact: 4 children from the same institution died.
‘The school collapsed’
In videos circulating on social media, it is possible to see how the emblematic parish Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro completely collapsed, filling the main park of Calima El Darién with dust and debris.
EL TIEMPO contacted the mayor of the municipality, Antonio Cadavid, to ask about the situation in which the municipality ended up, which borders the department of Chocó, the epicenter of the earthquake.
The mayor began by assuring that, according to the official report, 4 minors died, another 2 were referred with traumatic brain injury, and several hospital patients were transferred to other medical facilities.
Additionally, 43 houses destroyed, 236 homes with partial damage, and damage to institutional buildings such as the Hospital, City Hall, Treasury, Fire Department, Civil Defense, and 6 educational institutions.
“The Gimnasio Calima school, María Inmaculada campus, collapsed and we are attentive to reports from the hospitals where the children were referred to know their health status,” said the mayor.
In the report of patients admitted to the emergency service of the San Jorge hospital in Calima El Darién, known to this newspaper, 62 people were admitted with hip trauma, fractures in the clavicle, tibia, and body wounds.
A total of 30 minors were admitted, of whom 4 died (3 boys and 1 girl), who are part of the Gimnasio del Calima school at the María Inmaculada campus.
EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit established that the deceased minors were identified as Jesús Muñoz Quinceno, 6 years old, María José Lozada Torres, 5 years old, Emanuel Bastidas Arredondo, 6 years old, and Anthony Ríos Gómez, 8 years old. The latter was referred to Buga but died while being transported in a private car.
‘They just reported another minor deceased’
EL TIEMPO contacted the school principal, María Elizabeth Álvarez, who assured that between 20 and 25 children from the institution were injured: “Some were evacuated and referred to Cali and Tuluá immediately.”
(Check here all the articles from EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit)
And she assured that another minor also died: “They just reported another minor deceased to us. In total, there were 5 children. The hospitals have not given us more information, but they were first and second-grade students.”
The principal assured that they are attentive to the information sent from the hospitals to evaluate it with the members of the institution.
Authorities of the municipality recommend having a safety kit on hand and being alert to possible aftershocks in the next 72 hours.
In Bahía Solano, they are also mourning the death of Mateo, the son of the municipality’s mayor, only 6 years old. Several schools in the valley, Chocó, and the Coffee Axis are part of the inventory of buildings affected by the earthquake.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
u.investigativa@eltiempo.com
@UinvestigativaET
Follow us now on Facebook
Read more Colombia mobilizes for the victims of the most devastating earthquake in 27 years
