Updated
Updated · CNN · Aug 14
Ana María Saavedra Survives Colombia's 7.4 Quake as 5 Relatives Die in Cali
Updated
Updated · CNN · Aug 14

Ana María Saavedra Survives Colombia's 7.4 Quake as 5 Relatives Die in Cali

3 articles · Updated · CNN · Aug 14

Summary

  • Hours after rescuers pulled her from a collapsed Cali apartment, Ana María Saavedra Caycedo learned she was the only survivor of her immediate family, with arm injuries, a fractured pelvis and surgery already completed.
  • Five relatives — her parents Jair Saavedra and Vicky Caycedo, sisters Sofia and Isabella, and uncle Diego Caycedo — were recovered dead after days of searches at one of the city's hardest-hit sites.
  • A family GoFundMe has drawn thousands of donations to cover Ana María's long physical and emotional recovery after the triplets had recently graduated from university and worked together.
  • The August 10 earthquake has killed at least 294 people, left 320 missing and nearly 4,000 injured, while more than 12,000 homes were destroyed and over 100 buildings leveled in Colombia's deadliest quake in decades.

Insights

How did ignored building codes in Venezuela turn a natural seismic event into a preventable family tragedy?
Can refugee children who survive back-to-back deadly earthquakes in different countries ever truly heal from such trauma?
What happens when displaced families fleeing a devastated homeland step directly into another catastrophic natural disaster abroad?