Colombia quake: Grieving families face agonising waits to bury loved ones

Days after a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia, families in the worst-affected city of Cali are facing a second, heartbreaking ordeal: the struggle to lay their loved ones to rest.

The city's main morgue was forced to close after part of the Hospital Universitario del Valle collapsed in the quake. As a result, recovered bodies are being transported to the neighbouring town of Palmira, which escaped major structural damage.

This influx has overwhelmed Palmira's facilities, which now lack sufficient refrigeration capacity. Grieving relatives, many wearing masks, wait outside for hours, caught in a system stretched far beyond its limits.

For some, a painful farewell has brought a measure of closure. Ivan Delgado, a relative of victim Maria Esmeralda Ordonez, expressed relief mixed with sorrow. "Thankfully it's not turned out like it has for others who today are still fighting to rescue loved ones," he said. "The chances of survival are very slim, but miracles are happening."

For many others, the ordeal continues even after a body is recovered. Claiming a relative requires a prosecutor's order, an undertaker, and extensive paperwork — a gruelling process compounded by the facility's overload.

Camilo Mendez, who waited three agonising days to claim his aunt and grandmother, described the chaos. "Moving the bodies, all of it, it was very slow, very disorganized," he said. "My grandmother and my aunt were in one place, then another. It was pretty chaotic, honestly."

To support the exhausted crowds, volunteers and psychologists have set up tents near the Palmira facility. Alison Morales, a volunteer psychologist, described the toll on families. "It's an exhausting process. You're here waiting for an answer, and no one knows when it will come," she said. "There are people with one, five, six relatives they can't find."

Despite the strain, Morales noted the community's resilience. "The community has been extraordinary, all kinds of donations, the communal kitchen, water for the people waiting," she added.

Though Palmira itself was spared the worst of the quake, it now carries the region's profound grief as families struggle to bury their dead.