Searching for Survivors 40 Years After One of Latin America’s Deadliest Disasters

0:00Today on State of the World, searching for survivors 40 years after one of Latin America's deadliest disasters.

0:11You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the day's most vital international stories, up close where they're happening. I'm Greg Dixon. In 1985, a volcanic eruption in Colombia triggered a mudslide that wiped out the town of Armero. Over 25 ,000 people were killed. It was one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th century. Reporter John Otis takes us to the town and finds people are still trying to reunite with loved ones 40 years later.

0:45Driving through the ruins of Armero, veterinarian Fernando Angarita shows me where the bakery, the hospital, and the Presbyterian church once stood. Later, Angarita points to a boulder the size of a cargo truck. It arrived with the avalanche on the evening of November 13, 1985. The deluge was caused by the eruption of snow-capped Nevado del Ruiz volcano 30 miles west of here. Warnings to evacuate arrived too late. The flood of lava, mud, and debris buried this once-bustling farm town. I took the avalanche from the village and took me six kilometers below, in that water. Angarita was caught by the massive mudslide that carried him nearly four miles out of town.

1:37He suffered 16 fractures to his face and jaw and compares it to being inside a blender. Angarita, who's now 71, says, I have no idea why I'm still alive. These days, tour guides lead people through a wasteland of half-buried buildings and makeshift gravestones. Esther Voraesvik, who's from the Netherlands, found Armero more moving than the petrified ruins of Pompeii. If we're going to visit a place like this in Europe, totally structured and like renovated, you don't feel real that it happened for real. But here it's like everything is how it was, so it's quite powerful. The biggest attraction is a shrine to Omaida Sanchez.

2:27Only 13, she was found by rescue workers in water up to her neck and trapped by debris. As they tried to save her, she spoke to TV journalists. Mama, if you listen to me, pray so that I can walk and this people help me. Mommy, she says, if you can hear me, pray so that I can walk again and that these people can help me. After spending 70 hours in the water, Sanchez died of hypothermia. Many Colombians consider Omaida Sanchez an unofficial saint. And here at her gravesite, they've placed hundreds of stone plaques, thanking her for the blessings they believe that she's bestowed upon them. Four decades later, there are still many unanswered questions about the tragedy.

3:19For example, Nevaro del Ruiz was a highly active volcano, and it's unclear why there were so few warnings ahead of the catastrophic eruption.

3:34583 children are reported by relatives as unaccounted for, says Francisco Gonzales, an Armero native who is leading an investigation into what happened to them. Many likely perished in the landslide. Others were adopted. However, chaos reigned after the disaster, record-keeping was shoddy, and the fate of these children may never be known. To mark the 40th anniversary of the tragedy, survivors launch hundreds of model boats into a nearby river in a symbolic search for truth. Their tiny sails are emblazoned with photos of the missing children. About half of the little boats immediately overturn in the rapids, but the rest of them seem to be staying upright, surviving.

4:27Among the missing is the younger brother of Mariela Diaz. Every year, she makes a pilgrimage back to her hometown of Armero to look for him.

4:44My brother did survive. Lots of people saw him, Diaz says. So we still have hope that maybe he will reappear. For NPR News, I'm John Otis in Armero, Colombia.

5:06That's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening.