‘Pay-by-the-day’ living in Pereira: The forgotten survivors of Colombia’s earthquake

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Pereira, Colombia, killing 111 people in the city and affecting more than 400,000 nationwide. Among the hardest hit were residents of unlicensed 'pay-by-the-day' boarding houses, who paid roughly USD 5 a night for a room and now have no home, no official count, and no recognition from the Pereira Mayor's Office.

Seventeen bodies were pulled from one collapsed boarding house by neighbors and volunteers working alongside official rescuers. An estimated 400 people, by volunteer count only, are now sheltering in La Libertad Park, a site the city has not authorized as a shelter. The Mayor's Office has identified about 600 buildings at risk of collapse but has no estimate of how many boarding-house residents were displaced.

Volunteers describe the displaced as invisible because many are sex workers, homeless, or recyclers, while public attention concentrated on the collapse of a nearby luxury hotel. Survivors described running through the earthquake in towels, losing coworkers they cannot confirm are alive, and sleeping on park ground for the first time in their lives.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.