[Anchor]
Desperate rescue operations are underway in Colombia following a strong earthquake. However, persistent aftershocks are slowing down the efforts, while the numbers of dead and missing are rapidly increasing.
Reporter Yu Deok-gi has the details.
[Reporter]
Rescue workers reassure a woman trapped beneath concrete debris at a collapsed building site.
[Colombian Rescue Worker : Please wait just a little longer. We are all working together.]
After a desperate struggle lasting over 10 hours, this woman in her 30s was safely rescued 36 hours after the earthquake occurred.
Another woman in her 30s, who endured being trapped under a collapsed building while drinking water handed to her by rescuers, was also rescued 16 hours after being found.
Desperate rescue operations to save even one more life are continuing across quake-hit regions in Colombia, including Cali, Pereira, and Manizales.
Acoustic equipment is being mobilized to search for signs of life, and residents have formed human chains to clear away building debris.
[Colombian Rescue Worker : We still have a great opportunity. There may be spaces (at the burial site) where the buried can survive for a certain period, or even much longer.]
Companion animals such as kittens and puppies are also occasionally being rescued, but despite desperate efforts to save lives, the death toll is rising rapidly.
With Colombian local authorities announcing that 250 people have died and nearly 2,600 have been injured so far, the number of missing persons registered on private websites has exceeded 4,000.
[Family Member of Missing Person : I hope that my brother is there (in the collapsed building) and that we can find him. But we can't hear anything anymore. The (chance of survival) is slim.]
More than 70 aftershocks are making rescue operations even slower.
To prevent looting and support relief efforts, the Colombian government has imposed a nighttime curfew in the affected areas and banned the operation of private vehicles, except for emergency responders and police.
As the international community steps in to dispatch rescue teams and provide relief supplies, the South Korean government has also decided to provide assistance amounting to 1 million dollars, or approximately 1.4 billion won, through international relief organizations.
(Video Editing : Chae Chul-ho, Design : Choi Jae-young, Video Source : X@craigoz82)
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