Colombia's President Abelardo De La Espriella has vowed on Wednesday to set up an emergency fund to help rebuild hospitals, schools, homes, and infrastructure destroyed by Monday's earthquake, which killed 265 and left nearly 500 people unaccounted for.
"This is undoubtedly a tragedy of immense proportions," De La Espriella, who was inaugurated three days before the 7.4 magnitude-quake collapsed buildings across major cities in western Colombia, said in a national address. "Our efforts are focused on those who remain missing."
De La Espriella announced an economic emergency in the country to address damages caused by the earthquake, but did not clarify what measures that would entail.
Hours earlier, Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder warned rescue workers were racing against time as the clock runs out on a critical 72-hour window during which there are far greater chances of finding quake survivors.
Officials estimate the quake, which struck the South American country just after 7 am local time (1200 GMT) on Monday, injured 3,770 people and destroyed more than 9,550 homes.
Pereira, deep in Colombia's coffee region, and Cali, its third-largest city, reported 83 and 74 deaths respectively.
FAMILIES AWAIT NEWS
Rescue efforts in Cali were concentrated around seven buildings that might still hold survivors.
At the Torres del Limonar complex in the southern part of the city, residents formed long bucket brigades with soldiers, employees of the mayor's office and others, handing down rubble from the peak of the debris.
Some 30 km north-east of Cali in Palmira, relatives of the deceased waited outside a morgue on plastic chairs under the shade of trees. An official called out the names of identified bodies via a loud speaker.
Santiago Lloreda, 31, told Reuters he was at work when the quake hit his apartment, killing his mother and 13-month-old daughter Salma, who was too young to have a fingerprint registry and needs to be identified through DNA samples via Bogota.
"My daughter was a dream made reality," he said. "My mother was the pillar of our family, she took care of everyone and always made you laugh ... she gave everything up to look after the baby. It cost her life but it made her so proud and happy."
Ricardo, who did not share his last name, said he traveled from Miami to recover the body of his sister. He praised the efforts of doctors and neighbors' solidarity.
"There are heroes in there helping return our family's bodies to us as soon as they can," he said, adding that his niece was awaiting surgery for fractures to her skull, jaw, leg and a collapsed lung.
"She's alive. We know she's going to get better," he said.
Blast at Rotterdam port energy facility kills one person
US can keep blockade on Iranian ports 'indefinitely', Pentagon chief says
Large explosion rips through Italian munitions factory
Trump says press secretary Leavitt to leave job at month's end
Air India expands drug testing to all pilots after captain tests positive
