A six-month-old baby and her mother were pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in Cali following Monday’s 7.4-magnitude earthquake. Rescue teams continue to search for survivors across western Colombia, where at least 169 people have been killed.
Cali is among the cities hardest hit by the earthquake. The mother and child became trapped beneath the debris when part of a building collapsed.
Rescue captured on video
Footage and images shared on social media show rescuers working carefully through the rubble to reach the pair.
Unstable debris made the operation particularly difficult, with each movement having to be carefully coordinated to avoid a further collapse. Rescue teams eventually reached the mother and baby and brought them both to safety.
The footage quickly became one of the most widely shared images from the rescue operations under way across Colombia.
🥹 #Colombia | ¡Milagro entre los escombros! En Cali, rescatistas lograron sacar con vida a una madre y a su bebé de apenas tres meses, quienes permanecían atrapados bajo los escombros de un edificio tras el fuerte terremoto que sacudió al país. ❤️🩹 pic.twitter.com/wTrPpv7Cfu
— Noticias 24 Horas (@NoticiasEc24h) August 10, 2026
Death toll reaches 169
Monday’s earthquake shook Cali, Quibdó, Pereira and several other cities and communities across western Colombia. Multi-storey buildings collapsed in Pereira and Cali, while extensive damage was reported across the affected areas.
Around 1,600 buildings were damaged or collapsed, according to the Associated Press. Soldiers, rescue workers and relatives of missing people searched through the wreckage, at times removing large pieces of concrete by hand and passing them along human chains.
At least 169 people have been killed, while hundreds more have been injured. The number of people still trapped beneath collapsed buildings remains unclear.
Rescatan a personas con vida al sur de Cali, Colombia. pic.twitter.com/yM3aKgXeco
— Pedro Jaimes Criollo (@MeteoAero) August 10, 2026
Searches continue in Cali
Rescue operations are continuing across Cali amid reports that people remain trapped under the rubble.
Hospitals in the city also sustained serious damage, raising concerns that some people may still be unaccounted for inside affected buildings.
Across the disaster zone, search and rescue teams continue to look for signs of life beneath the debris.
Sources: AP, AFP.
