Ares
23rd December 2010, 12:36 PM
It seems like a movie of Mark Robson (Earthquake, 1974), but at this time I write this post, a Colombian village, Gramalote in North Santander, is being swallowed by the earth. Another chapter of the tragic 2010 winter in Colombia. The minister of interior, Germán Vargas Lleras, visited the place of the disaster and sentenced that the town will disappeared in few hours. The 90 percent of its population has been evacuated and rescue teams try to recover official and historical documents from government buildings that were destroyed by the strain natural phenomenon.
Gramalote is a municipality of 918.942 inhabitants. It was founded in 1857 on a geological fault of the Eastern ranges of the Colombian Andes. Minister Vargas said to the media that the order to evacuate was followed quickly by the population, so there is not deadly victims. About four thousand inhabitants from the affected sectors of the town were located in special camps. The minister and a journalist of Caracol, Eduardo Galeano, reported that the buildings were falling like a house of cards.
Most of the houses of the town are damaged and others are already buried, said the minister, so in a couple of days Gramalote will cease to exist. A hill that is next to the town, is falling on it.
The inhabitants called for help when they felt a strain movement of the earth. In few minutes the buildings began to crack and fall. Electrical wires fall also. Barrio Santa Anita was the first sector to be destroyed. In less than 24 hours, the town was almost damaged in all its infrastructure and the people could bring out of their houses only few belongings.
Teams of rescue came to the town and began the evacuation. More personnel have been arriving to the region to avoid the lost of human lives, reported minister Vargas.
Danger of famine in the refugee camps / 1st update, 12.20.2010
About 80 persons of Gramalote entered in the first hours of Sunday to remove from the destroyed town the belongings they could take out in trucks, reported the local newspaper Diario La Opinión. The problem is now a danger of famine in the improvised refugee camps located in nearby sectors. The authorities, however, did not allow more people to enter in the site as a way to prevent any accident in the disaster zone.
All the reports mention about a roar of the earth that causes panic in the inhabitants. Al about 10:00 in the morning, many people tried to reach the center of the town and some persons began looting stores that were about to collapse. As they got out food, the police decided not to stop the looting.
At 17:30 the authorities banned any person to return to the place.
Some refugees said to the press that they did not receive yet help from the government. There is an urgent need for food and medical attention. Some families have refused to evacuate for fear to lost everything and starve.
According to the experts, in three days more the town will collapse in its totality.
http://colombiapassport.com/2010/12/19/a-village-was-swallowed-by-the-earth/
Gramalote is a municipality of 918.942 inhabitants. It was founded in 1857 on a geological fault of the Eastern ranges of the Colombian Andes. Minister Vargas said to the media that the order to evacuate was followed quickly by the population, so there is not deadly victims. About four thousand inhabitants from the affected sectors of the town were located in special camps. The minister and a journalist of Caracol, Eduardo Galeano, reported that the buildings were falling like a house of cards.
Most of the houses of the town are damaged and others are already buried, said the minister, so in a couple of days Gramalote will cease to exist. A hill that is next to the town, is falling on it.
The inhabitants called for help when they felt a strain movement of the earth. In few minutes the buildings began to crack and fall. Electrical wires fall also. Barrio Santa Anita was the first sector to be destroyed. In less than 24 hours, the town was almost damaged in all its infrastructure and the people could bring out of their houses only few belongings.
Teams of rescue came to the town and began the evacuation. More personnel have been arriving to the region to avoid the lost of human lives, reported minister Vargas.
Danger of famine in the refugee camps / 1st update, 12.20.2010
About 80 persons of Gramalote entered in the first hours of Sunday to remove from the destroyed town the belongings they could take out in trucks, reported the local newspaper Diario La Opinión. The problem is now a danger of famine in the improvised refugee camps located in nearby sectors. The authorities, however, did not allow more people to enter in the site as a way to prevent any accident in the disaster zone.
All the reports mention about a roar of the earth that causes panic in the inhabitants. Al about 10:00 in the morning, many people tried to reach the center of the town and some persons began looting stores that were about to collapse. As they got out food, the police decided not to stop the looting.
At 17:30 the authorities banned any person to return to the place.
Some refugees said to the press that they did not receive yet help from the government. There is an urgent need for food and medical attention. Some families have refused to evacuate for fear to lost everything and starve.
According to the experts, in three days more the town will collapse in its totality.
http://colombiapassport.com/2010/12/19/a-village-was-swallowed-by-the-earth/