MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombia: De la Espriella calls the situation in Pereira “apocalyptic” after touring the city

De la Espriella said 90 tonnes of humanitarian aid had reached Pereira through the office of the first lady

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella on Friday described the situation in Pereira, capital of Risaralda department and one of the places worst hit by Monday's magnitude 7.4 earthquake in the west and center of the country, as “apocalyptic.”

“Walking through the center of Pereira, walking through the city, wrenches your heart. But Colombians are used to rising to the occasion in the face of adversity, and it is fair to say we have never had it easy. And believe me, this situation will not get the better of us,” he said after meeting local authorities.

The president said Pereira has recorded 94 dead, 259 injured and 260 missing, and put the number of people affected at 140,000, from 41,600 families. That last figure does not match the records of the National Disaster Risk Management Unit, which in its 6:30am update put the number affected across the whole country at 102,262 and in its afternoon revision raised it to 145,601, spread across 448 municipalities in fifteen departments.

According to that latest assessment, current as of 4:30pm on Friday, the earthquake has left 288 dead, 4,018 injured, 202 missing and 354 people rescued. The number of missing fell from the 379 reported in the morning, an adjustment authorities did not explain and which typically reflects progress in identifying bodies and the reappearance of people located since. Of the dead, 250 bodies had reached the forensic service, 227 had been identified and 189 had been returned to their families.

Infrastructure records have also shifted in both directions as engineering teams complete on-site assessment of each building: damaged homes went from 73,455 to 80,744, destroyed homes stood at 12,504 and collapsed buildings were revised from 121 to 66. Cali, Pereira, Quibdó, Manizales and Armenia remain on red alert.

De la Espriella said 90 tonnes of humanitarian aid had reached Pereira through the office of the first lady, Ana Lucía Pineda, and announced that the department's reconstruction needs would be included in the economic emergency he will present next week. “This situation in Pereira and in the department requires special action,” he said.

The president declared an economic emergency on Wednesday, a constitutional mechanism that empowers the executive to issue decrees with the force of law and which will be subject to review by the Constitutional Court. The quake's epicenter was located near San José del Palmar, in Chocó department, one of those with the highest poverty rates in the country.