Efraín Gallego does not lose faith that his brother will be found alive, although when he speaks about him, trapped beneath the rubble of a building, his voice breaks and he swallows hard until he regains his composure.
“You feel anguish. Every time there is an alert about someone being alive, hope is reborn that we will find him,” Gallego tells me emotionally.
His 80-year-old brother was buried along with his wife when the Torres del Limonar building collapsed in Cali.
This city in south-western Colombia is one of the hardest hit by the earthquake.
The building has become a symbol of the tragedy in the country’s third most populous city.
Cali has more than two million inhabitants. According to Mayor Alejandro Éder, there are at least 95 dead.
Under the scorching heat on Tuesday morning, Torres del Limonar is a shattered mountain of rubble, with mattresses, furniture, and belongings peeking out from the concrete.
On top of the remains are rescuers and volunteers: “Silence! We are firefighters. If you can hear us, shout or make any noise.”
The phrase is repeated every time the teams dig deep enough to believe they may be close to a survivor.
These are the moments when Gallego regains hope, but the seconds pass and no answers come from below.
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