Search for Colombia earthquake survivors stretches into third day

CALI, Colombia, Aug 12 - Colombian rescue teams raced on Wednesday to find survivors still trapped beneath collapsed buildings two days after a powerful earthquake left nearly 250 people dead.

At Torres del Limonar, a collapsed apartment complex in Cali, emergency workers were still searching through the rubble for signs of life after the 7.4-magnitude quake struck the South American country on Monday morning.

"At this moment we still have hope, at least until about four days have passed since the quake," said Camilo Cano, a fire department official from Bogota helping with the rescue efforts in Cali, the third-largest city in Colombia.

Cano said more than 20 people were rescued from the apartment complex in the first 12 hours after the quake by local crews and residents, and three more were later pulled out alive in more difficult operations under the wreckage.

But he said large crowds of volunteers and onlookers had at first made the search harder.

"We cannot concentrate and hear the calls of people under the structure," Cano said, adding that movement on the debris also increased the danger if there were aftershocks from the quake, which was the strongest felt in Colombia in several decades.

Police had imposed tighter controls around the site by Wednesday, while volunteers were being directed to specific tasks, helping rescuers work more effectively, he said.

Among those still waiting for news about loved ones was Marcela Perez, who said her partner's 11-year-old daughter was trapped with the girl's grandparents when the building collapsed.

"We have been here since Monday waiting for the girl to be rescued, and for her grandparents too," Perez said. "We are just waiting and trusting in God." REUTERS