Rescuers worked through a third straight night with time ticking towards the 72-hour mark since a powerful earthquake hit Colombia. That's the period aid agencies consider most critical for finding survivors alive, though it can stretch longer if trapped people have access to food and water.
"We're entering the final phase," Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder said, adding that survivors could still be found afterward but that the odds grow steadily worse. He said crews were still detecting signs of life beneath the rubble and urged speed: "Every minute is vital."Rescue workers ask for silence as they search for survivors at the site of collapsed buildings Image: Raul Arboleda/AFP
The latest on the Colombia earthquake
The death toll from the quake has climbed to 265, President Abelardo de la Espriella said Wednesday.
De la Espriella said roughly 3,500 people have been injured and nearly 500 remain unaccounted for, though a crowdsourced tracking site used by families put the number of missing far higher, at more than 4,100. More than 25,800 families have been affected in total, he said.
