Colombia quake survivor faces life without sisters, parents

Colombia quake survivor Ana Maria Saavedra is recovering from a pelvic fracture after the apartment building where she lived in Cali collapsed in Monday's 7.4-magnitude earthquake, while her parents and two sisters were lost in the disaster, her cousin said.

Carlos Augusto Saavedra said neighbors heard the 23-year-old screaming after she sheltered under a table and took her to a clinic. He said she had surgery, was conscious and speaking, and was receiving psychological care. Doctors expect her to walk again in two to three weeks, he said.

Her parents, Jairo and Victoria, died in a bedroom. One sister was buried beneath a staircase, while another showed no signs of life under rubble after the first 72 hours following the disaster.

The cousin said Ana Maria, Sofia and Isabella were inseparable triplets who studied marketing, spent their final university semester in France and returned to work in Cali.

Friends and neighbors have searched the collapsed four-story building since Monday. Rescue workers used a crane to lift concrete, roofing and rebar from the site, while warnings were repeated about other buildings at risk of collapse.

The quake has killed more than 280 people across western Colombia, and hundreds remain missing.