Search teams comb rubble in Colombia nearly a week after quake as aid effort expands

BOGOTA, Aug 16 - Search teams worked through the rubble of collapsed buildings in western Colombia on Sunday, nearly a week after a powerful earthquake devastated cities and towns across the country's west, killing hundreds and leaving many more missing, injured or homeless.

The 7.4-magnitude quake struck Monday morning in San Jose del Palmar, causing severe damage from the Pacific port of Buenaventura to Colombia's coffee-growing region and major western cities including Cali and Pereira.

Official estimates issued late on Saturday put the death toll at around 290, with 140 people still missing and nearly 4,000 injured. More than two-thirds of the deaths were concentrated in Cali and Pereira, where apartment blocks, homes, churches, schools and hospitals were damaged or destroyed.

In Cali, Colombia's third-largest city, emergency workers continued searching unstable piles of concrete and twisted metal on Sunday as rescue efforts increasingly gave way to the recovery of bodies. Aftershocks have added to the danger for crews working in damaged neighborhoods and for residents still unable to return home.

As hopes of finding more survivors dimmed, the relief operation was expanding.

In Bogota, the capital, a stadium has been turned into the country's biggest donation collection center, with volunteers working around the clock to sort and load food, clothing, medicine and other basic supplies for affected areas. Coordinating organization Sencia said more than 7,000 volunteers had helped dispatch 700 tons of aid over five days.

In Pereira, authorities were also extending emergency help to injured pets and distributing donated animal food, underscoring the wider strain on families whose incomes and homes have been upended by the disaster.

The quake is the first major crisis facing President Abelardo De La Espriella, who took office just days before the disaster and now faces the task of overseeing relief and reconstruction.

De La Espriella said on Sunday that Colombian billionaire banker Jaime Gilinski, who also controls food company Nutresa, would donate 150 billion Colombian pesos ($47.75 million) to rebuild hospitals and schools in Gilinski's hometown Cali. REUTERS