The death toll from Monday's magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Colombia has reached 281, with 379 people still missing and nearly 4,000 injured, officials said, as rescue operations intensified across the country's hardest-hit western regions. President Abelardo de la Espriella, inaugurated just three days before the disaster, announced an economic emergency and a reconstruction plan covering more than 44,000 damaged homes and 102,105 affected people across 426 municipalities.
The government restricted international rescue assistance to teams from four allied nations: the United States, Israel, Ecuador, and El Salvador, prompting Mexico to repatriate 36 of its citizens after Bogotá requested additional certification for Mexican rescuers. Spain confirmed a dual-nationality citizen was among the dead.
The National Disaster Risk Management Unit deployed search dogs and technological equipment, with rescue efforts concentrated in southern Cali, while urban planners warned that temporary encampments in cities like Pereira may be needed for years.