00:17In Pereira, one of the cities most affected by the earthquake that struck Colombia on August 10,
00:22daily life for various neighborhoods has changed.
00:24The crisis triggered by the earthquake is evident in the damage to homes
00:28and the lives of the residents.
00:30Amid this reality, the complaints of volunteer rescue workers
00:33who have been excluded from rescue efforts in certain parts of the city can be heard.
00:42Daily life for residents of the Providencia neighborhood in Pereira
00:45has changed dramatically since Monday, August 10.
00:48Their central park has been transformed into a collection center and community kitchen
00:52to provide assistance to both local residents and disaster victims passing through the area.
00:59Here, we want to receive as much support as possible.
01:02This is the community, the kids, the neighborhood kids, the ones who are giving it their all.
01:06As you can see here, there are older people, mothers, aunts, children.
01:10Everyone has come to help.
01:12We're not affiliated with any government agency, nor are we part of any official institution.
01:16We're simply the community that has done a wonderful job of organizing and managing things.
01:21We want to continue helping the city from here, from Providencia.
01:28The damage in the city is severe.
01:31During our tour, we arrived in the Olaya Herrera neighborhood,
01:34where the strong earthquake left several buildings at risk of imminent collapse.
01:39This situation not only endangers the structures,
01:42but also the residents of the area whose homes could be damaged.
01:46Adding to this situation is the insecurity plaguing the neighborhood.
01:51There's a very tall wall that's about to collapse.
01:55We've already asked various organizations for help,
01:58because this is going to cause much more damage than there already is on this block,
02:02both to my house, which is still, let's say, livable,
02:05but we can't really go inside right now,
02:08and to my neighbor's house, because the wall might fall and block her exit, trapping her inside.
02:13The same thing could happen to us.
02:16So what are we asking for?
02:18Help from organizations to at least come and assist us with that wall,
02:22so we can get into our homes.
02:25Because right now we're sleeping outside and taking turns patrolling at night.
02:30Security is terrifying.
02:31People are trying to steal from us.
02:34And the police don't come by to patrol.
02:37No one visits us, so we feel like we've been abandoned.
02:43The downtown area has been hardest hit by the damage to buildings.
02:49Authorities have restricted traffic and closed several roads.
02:52They have also barred volunteer rescue workers from accessing rescue sites
02:56where they had previously been working.
02:58The police's mobile riot squad has even been spotted in the area.
03:02Volunteer rescuers view this measure as an affront
03:04that hinders their ability to continue searching for survivors amid the rubble.
03:08We're looking for life between the escombros.
03:16Since Friday at 10 p.m., after we received a sign of life,
03:19after we got a sign that someone was still alive,
03:21the firefighters relieved us, brought in the machine,
03:24and said they were going to work that way
03:25because there was no longer any hope of finding anyone alive.
03:28That's why they brought in the backhoe.
03:32Since then, they haven't let us in.
03:35We don't really know what's going on because, starting that night,
03:38they began bringing in a lot of police and a lot of military personnel.
03:41Before that, there were patrol cars passing by,
03:43but nothing on such a large scale.
03:49We find it very suspicious because it's the only place
03:52where they've deployed such a large force.
03:55Yesterday, news began to go viral that they aren't letting us in
03:58and that they're bringing in heavy machinery there.
04:02Although there has been plenty of evidence of life there at the Lara warehouse,
04:06they haven't let us continue our work.
04:11In light of this emergency and its escalating situation,
04:14the Pereira mayor's office confirmed
04:16that the number of missing persons as of Sunday, August 16th,
04:20had dropped from 251 to 140,
04:22and that, as of that same date,
04:24260 people had been rescued
04:26and more than 290 had been confirmed dead.
04:29Con la cámara de William Moreno,
04:32Hernán Dario Tobar Gaitán, Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia.
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