Mourning declared as Colombia quake rescue continues

Patients from a clinic evacuated due to earthquake damage lie in beds at a temporary facility set up in a gymnasium at a nearby school in Cali, Colombia, on Tuesday. SANTIAGO SALDARRIAGA/AP

PEREIRA/CALI — Colombia on Wednesday declared three days of mourning for victims of an earthquake that demolished buildings in the west of the country, killing more than 200 people, as rescue crews continued searching collapsed buildings in western Colombia.

The 7.4 magnitude earthquake killed at least 254 people and injured more than 2,595, while more than 100 aftershocks were recorded in affected areas as of Tuesday afternoon.

The quake, the most devastating to strike Colombia this century, hit the country's coffee-growing region early Monday, bringing down apartment blocks and homes and damaging schools, hospitals and other public facilities.

In Pereira and Cali, rescuers used cranes, excavators, sniffer dogs and their bare hands to search collapsed buildings, while volunteers formed human chains to remove debris. In Cali, residents joined firefighters with picks and shovels, while in Pereira, army units combed through concrete and exposed steel.