Search teams worked through the rubble of collapsed buildings in western Colombia on Sunday, nearly a week after a powerful earthquake devastated cities and towns across the country’s west, killing hundreds and leaving many more missing, injured or homeless.
The 7.4-magnitude quake struck Monday morning in San Jose del Palmar, causing severe damage from the Pacific port of Buenaventura to Colombia’s coffee-growing region and major western cities including Cali and Pereira.
Official estimates issued late on Saturday put the death toll at around 290, with 140 people still missing and nearly 4,000 injured.
More than two-thirds of the deaths were concentrated in Cali and Pereira, where apartment blocks, homes, churches, schools and hospitals were damaged or destroyed.
In Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city, emergency workers continued searching unstable piles of concrete and twisted metal on Sunday as rescue efforts increasingly gave way to the recovery of bodies.
Aftershocks have added to the danger for crews working in damaged neighborhoods and for residents still unable to return home.
