Bogotá.- With candles, prayers, and Christian hymns, hundreds of Colombians paid tribute this Friday to the 331 people who died on August 10 in the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck the center and southwest of the country, which also left 4,449 injured and at least 406,963 affected.
The event titled ‘Prayer for Colombia and great candlelight vigil for the victims and families affected by the earthquake’ was held in the central Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá and brought together hundreds of attendees, including the president, Abelardo de la Espriella, and the first lady, Ana Lucía Pineda.
The first lady thanked the international donors who have sent at least 640 tons of humanitarian aid to assist those affected, as well as the nationals, who in the case of Bogota have collected some 2,640 tons.
“Thanks to every donor, the volunteers, the companies, the organizations, and all the people who reached out and made it possible to reach the affected territories with gestures of love, humanitarian aid, and psychological support,” stated Pineda.
The event lasted for nearly three hours where the religious component was the protagonist, just as it happened on August 7th when De la Espriella took office in a ceremony where religion was the protagonist.
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Unlike August 7th, this Friday at the Plaza de Bolívar there were only interventions from leaders of Christian churches and Catholicism.
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Today’s ecumenical act was also the president’s first open to the public since the inauguration ceremony on August 7th in Cali, and although De la Espriella was scheduled to address those in the square, the rain prevented it because the event ended earlier than planned.
The earthquake, whose epicenter was located in the municipality of San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, affected 16 departments and 494 municipalities, also leaving 187,839 homes damaged and another 33,395 destroyed, according to the most recent report from the authorities.
The emergency tested the country’s response capacity and hit communities in Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Nariño, and other territories in the center and southwest especially hard, where thousands of families continue to wait for assistance and the reconstruction of their homes.
