Bogotá.- A six-year-old boy, son of Leonel Valencia, mayor of the municipality of Bahía Solano, in the department of Chocó (west), died this Monday in the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that shook a large part of Colombia and has left at least 132 dead.
The minor, named Mateo Valencia Valencia, died after the building he was in collapsed as a result of the earthquake, which had its epicenter in the town of San José del Palmar, also in Chocó and at a distance of more than 300 kilometers from Bahía Solano, in the Pacific region.
“Today we lost Mateo, son of the mayor of Bahía Solano, Leonel Valencia. With him and his entire family, we are in this painful moment, with all our hearts,” said the governor of Chocó, Nubia Carolina Córdoba-Curi, who detailed that the death toll in that department has now reached 13.
Former Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo, a native of Chocó, also expressed his condolences to the mayor of Bahía Solano and his wife, Yirley Valencia.
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“We deeply regret the passing of Mateo, son of the mayor of Bahía Solano. In these moments of immense pain, we lift our prayers to God to grant the mayor, his family, and the entire community strength, comfort, and serenity to face this irreparable loss,” wrote the former chancellor on his X account.
Mateo is one of the 132 people who died as a result of the earthquake, among whom are other minors, including at least four in the Valle del Cauca department.
