Daniela Largo, the 32-year-old woman who was rescued after spending nearly 37 hours under the rubble of a building that collapsed in the earthquake in Pereira, Colombia, died in hospital today. Her family confirmed the news to AFP. She had been pulled out alive on Tuesday.
The operation to rescue Largo had become a symbol of hope for Colombians.
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The moment she was carried away from the rubble on a stretcher, amid applause and cheers, moved the devastated country. According to the disaster management agency, the search is continuing for at least 400 people who remain missing.
The 32-year-old is survived by a 12-year-old son.
With a magnitude of 7.4, the earthquake was the most powerful to hit Colombia this century. The latest official toll reports at least 294 deaths and nearly 4,000 people injured.
Pereira and Cali are among the cities that sustained the greatest damage.
Six days after the tremors, search-and-rescue teams in the worst-affected areas are removing sections of roofs and walls with the help of heavy machinery.
While some are trying to ease the pain of the tragedy by embracing people, others are organizing fundraisers for victims sheltering in reception centers.
“I wish all of this would end soon,” Daniela Largo’s mother, Sandra Milena Perez, said during a telephone conversation with Agence France-Presse.
