A fatal 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit Colombia yesterday. Now its death toll tops 200 as rescuers race to find survivors, according to Reuters.
The seism was the strongest to hit the South American country in decades, and in the western part of Colombia it struck coffee-growing heartland, flattening homes, schools, apartment blocks and health centres.
Colombian rescuers are rushing to find more survivors trapped under collapsed buildings. Crews in cities including Pereira and Cali have worked through the night with cranes, excavators and their bare hands, while families wait beside the rubble for signs of life.
Yesterday's disaster has damaged critical infrastructure and disrupted aid efforts, as airports, roads, electricity, water, healthcare, and phone services have been affected, while the collapse of upper floors at a hospital in Cali left some patients trapped and forced hundreds more to be treated directly in the street.
