Following the earthquake in Colombia, the Alliance of Brothers delegation, led by the Home Front Command in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, arrived in Colombia yesterday (Friday) following the earthquake that struck the country.
Monday's earthquake, measuring 7.4, left at least 288 people dead, thousands injured, and over 200 are still missing.
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israeli Embassy in Colombia, led by Ambassador Alon Lavi, made advance preparations to provide the delegation with diplomatic and administrative support.
Upon their arrival, members of the delegation began operating in cooperation with local professional authorities and officials at several impact sites.
The delegation’s members are operating at two major impact sites and assisting efforts to locate and rescue trapped individuals, alongside numerous local volunteers.
At the city’s university hospital, which was damaged in the earthquake, Home Front Command engineers are working alongside local professionals in a complex engineering effort to advise and guide the removal of rubble, with the aim of enabling the rescue of trapped individuals and restoring the damaged wing for use.
At the same time, efforts have begun to map and assess buildings damaged in the earthquake, in cooperation with local authorities, with the aim of assisting in developing a situational assessment and determining priorities for continued response efforts.
In addition, the delegation’s members are assisting local authorities in establishing a data management system to support the management of the situational assessment and decision-making.
"The Israeli delegation will continue operating on the ground and make Israeli knowledge, experience and capabilities available to the authorities in Colombia, with the aim of assisting as much as possible in saving lives and addressing the consequences of the earthquake," the IDF stressed.