Woman pulled alive from rubble 36 hours after Colombia quake.
A 32‑year‑old woman in Pereira was rescued after being trapped under building debris for 36 hours following a 7.4‑magnitude earthquake on Monday. Rescuers sparked hope by extracting her alive, a rare success amid a toll of 265 confirmed deaths and 496 missing nationwide.
The victim, Daniela Largo, endured months of shaking before a fire‑fighter team dug a tunnel from below to reach the sealed concrete slabs that confined her. An earlier tunnel above allowed firefighters to administer oxygen before the final removal.
Missions were aided by crews from Bogotá and the national police’s disaster response unit. Their coordinated effort cut the time to release Largo to an hour, after a 10‑hour rescue effort.
Abelardo de la Espriella praised the rescue as “news which fills us with hope,” while Largo’s mother said, “At home, her 12‑year‑old son is waiting for her.”
In Pereira 92 buildings collapsed; 15 remain trapped and 37 are missing. Cali, Colombia’s third‑largest city, had 95 deaths reported and more than 200 trapped at the time of the rescue.
The quake’s epicentre lay near San José del Palmar, Chocó, with shaking felt across cities such as Medellín, Manizales, and Bogotá. Seismometers recorded up to two minutes of motion, and over 100 aftershocks have followed.
Rescue workers carry Daniela Largo, wrapped in a blue sheet, to an ambulance after freeing her from beneath the rubble.
