Veteran volunteer digs for survivors after Colombia quake

PEREIRA, Colombia - With his lean, sinewy frame, and standing just over 5 feet (1.6 meters) tall, Julio Cesar Pineda feels he was destined for the work of burrowing into the debris of shattered buildings to find survivors — first when a quake hit his native Colombia in 1999, and again just this week.

His efforts have won him a nickname: “Rescate” (‘Rescue’).

When Monday’s 7.4-magnitude earthquake pummeled western Colombia, the 67-year-old was at home, near the city of Pereira, in the country’s coffee-growing region that was close to the epicenter of the disaster. A wall in his house collapsed, but Pineda was unhurt and decided to help those who might have been less fortunate.

“All I did was grab some gloves ... grab a helmet, and go save lives,” Pineda told Reuters.

Thousands of civilians have joined government-deployed emergency teams to aid rescue efforts across the region, working with their hands to remove heavy pieces of concrete and twisted bars of metal. At least 273 people were confirmed dead as of Aug 13, with 377 others missing.

The scene in Pereira looked as if buildings had been bombed, Pineda said, adding that he had helped rescue both people and dogs.

Pineda was also a volunteer rescuer after the 1999 earthquake in the nearby city of Armenia, in which more than 1,000 people were killed. He makes a living from carving and sculpting handicrafts.

Volunteer rescuer Julio Cesar Pineda, 65, at the site of a building damaged in an earthquake, in Pereira, Colombia. PHOTO: REUTERS

“I’m not the kind of man who does heroic things,” he said. “God puts me at his disposal to try and do a little bit.” REUTERS