Omayra Sánchez
Omayra Sanchez.jpg
Fournier's famous photograph of Omayra Sánchez
Born (1972-08-28)August 28, 1972
Died November 16, 1985(1985-11-16) (aged 13)
Armero, Colombia
Cause of death Killed by the volcanic eruption of Nevado del Ruiz
Nationality Colombian
Parent(s) Alvaro Enrique Sánchez, Maria Aleida Sánchez

Omayra Sánchez Garzón (August 28, 1972 – November 16, 1985) was a 13-year-old Colombian girl killed in Armero, Colombia, by the 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz. Volcanic debris mixed with ice to form massive lahars (volcanically induced mudslides, landslides, and debris flows) that rushed into the river valleys below the mountain, killing nearly 25,000 people and destroying Armero and 13 other villages.

After a lahar demolished her home, Omayra became pinned beneath the debris of her house; she remained trapped in water for three days. Her plight was documented as she descended from calmness into agony. Her courage and dignity touched journalists and relief workers, who put great efforts into comforting her. After 60 hours of struggling, she died, likely due to either gangrene or hypothermia. Her death highlighted the failure of officials to respond promptly to the threat of the volcano and the efforts of volunteer rescue workers to reach and treat trapped victims despite a dearth of supplies and equipment.

Omayra became internationally famous through a photograph of her taken shortly before her death by the photojournalist Frank Fournier, which when published worldwide spawned considerable controversy; it was later designated the World Press Photo of the Year for 1985. She has remained a lasting figure in popular culture, remembered through music, literature, and commemorative articles.

Contents

Background[edit]

On November 13, 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted. Pyroclastic flows exploded from the crater and reached the mountain's icecap, melting it and forming lahars (volcanic mudflows and debris flows) that cascaded down the mountain into several river valleys below. One lahar was responsible for most of the damage, and proceeded in three waves. Traveling at a speed of 6 meters (20 ft) per second, the first pulse enveloped most of the town of Armero and killed up to 20,000 of its inhabitants, while two more pulses weakened buildings. Another lahar killed 1,800 people in nearby Chinchiná.[1] In total, the mudflows killed some 23,000 people and destroyed 13 villages in addition to Armero.[2]

The town of Armero, formerly in the center of this location, was covered with thick mudflows.

The loss of life of the Armero tragedy was exacerbated by the lack of an accurate timeframe for the eruption and the unwillingness of local authorities to take costly preventive measures in the absence of clear signs of imminent danger.[3] Because its last substantial eruption had occurred 140 years earlier, in 1845, it was difficult for many to accept the threat presented by the volcano; locals called it the "Sleeping Lion."[4]

In September 1985, as earthquakes and phreatic eruptions rocked the area, local officials began planning for an evacuation. In October, a hazard map was completed for the area around Nevado del Ruiz.[nb 1] This map highlighted the danger from falling material—including ash and rock—near Murillo, Santa Isabel, and Libano, as well as the threat of lahars in Mariquita, Guayabal, Chinchiná, and Armero.[6] Unfortunately, the map was poorly distributed to the people at high risk from Ruiz: many survivors had never heard of it, even though several of the country's major newspapers featured versions of the map.[5] Henry Villegas of INGEOMINAS (Colombian Institute of Mining and Geology) stated that the hazard maps clearly demonstrated that Armero would be affected by the lahars, but that the map "met with strong opposition from economic interests."[7] He added that because the map was not prepared long before the eruption, mass production and distribution of it in time was difficult.[7] Other circumstances affected the outcome: the Colombian Congress criticized the scientific and civil defense agencies for scaremongering, and the eruption occurred at the height of guerrilla warfare in Bogotá, Colombia's capital, so the government and army were occupied at the time of the eruption.[8]

The Armero tragedy, as the event came to be known, was the second-deadliest volcanic disaster of the 20th century, surpassed only by the eruption of Mount Pelée in 1902,[9] and is the fourth-deadliest volcanic eruption recorded since 1500 AD.[10] It is Colombia's worst natural disaster,[11] the lahar being the deadliest in volcanic history.[12]

Disaster[edit]

Omayra Sánchez was 13 years old at the time and lived with her parents Alvaro Enrique, a rice and sorghum collector, and Maria Aleida, along with her brother Alvaro Enrique[13] and aunt Maria Adela Garzón[14][15] in the neighborhood of Santander;[14] prior to the tragedy, her mother had traveled to Bogotá on business.[16] The night of the disaster, Omayra and her family were awake, worrying about the ashfall from the eruption when they heard the sound of an approaching lahar.[14] After it hit, Omayra became trapped under her home's concrete and other debris and could not free herself. When rescue teams tried to help her, they realized that her legs were trapped under her house's roof.[13][16] Sources differ on the degree to which Omayra was trapped. Zeiderman (2009) lists Omayra as being "trapped up to her neck",[17] while Barragán (1987) indicates that she was only trapped up to her waist.[14]

Omayra was immobilized from the waist down, but her upper body was free of the concrete and mud. For the first few hours after the mudflow hit, she was covered by concrete but fit her hand through a crack in the debris. After a rescuer noticed her hand protruding from a pile of debris, he and others cleared tiles and wood over an arduous day-long period. Once the girl was freed from the waist up, her rescuers attempted to pull her out, but found the task impossible without breaking her legs in the process. Each time a person pulled her, the water pooled around her, rising up so that it seemed she would drown if they let her go, so rescue workers placed a tire around her body to keep her afloat. Divers discovered that Omayra's legs were caught in a door made of bricks, her aunt's body under her feet.[14]

Death[edit]

Colombia and half of the world remained with the bitter sensation that Omayra Sánchez could have been able to continue living after remaining for almost 60 hours trapped from head to toe amidst the rubble of Armero. Her face, her words, and her courage, which streamed throughout the world on television and were a heartbreaking image in the largest newspapers and magazines of the United States and Europe, remained a testimony of accusation against those who could have at the very least made the tragedy less serious. Germán Santa María Barragán in El Tiempo, November 23, 1985[18]

Despite her situation, Omayra remained relatively positive: she sang to Germán Santa María Barragán, a journalist and future diplomat who was working as a volunteer,[16] asked for sweet food, drank soda,[14] and agreed to be interviewed. At times, the teenage girl was scared, and prayed or cried.[19] On the third night, Omayra began hallucinating, saying that she did not want to be late for school,[20] and mentioned a math exam.[16] Near the end of her life, Omayra's eyes reddened, her face swelled, and her hands whitened. At one point she asked the people to leave her so they could rest. Hours later the workers returned with a pump and worked feverishly to save her, but her legs were oriented as though she was kneeling, and so it was impossible to remove her without severing her legs. Lacking the surgical equipment to save her from the effects of an amputation, the doctors present agreed that it would be more humane to let her die.[14] In all, Omayra suffered for nearly three nights (roughly 60 hours) before she died at approximately 10:05 A.M.[14] on November 16 from exposure,[20] likely gangrene or hypothermia.[19] Both her brother and mother survived the lahars, but her father died. Her mother expressed her feelings about Omayra's death: "It is horrible, but we have to think about the living ... I will live for my son, who only lost a finger."[13][15]

As the public became aware of Omayra's situation through the media, her death became a potent symbol of the tragic nature of the Armero disaster and highlighted the failure of officials to properly assist victims who could have been saved.[18] Controversy broke out after descriptions of the shortages were released in newspapers, proving what officials had previously indicated: that they had used the best of their supplies. Volunteer relief workers said that there was such a dearth of resources that even supplies as basic as shovels, cutting tools, and stretchers ran out, and that the rescue process was impeded by large crowds and senseless inattention to organization. One unnamed police officer opined that the government should have depended on human resources to alleviate the problems and that the system of rescue was disorganized.[21] Colombia's Minister of Defense, Miguel Uribe, admitted that he "understood criticism of the rescue effort",[21] but deflected it towards the fact that Colombia was "an undeveloped country" that did not "have that kind of equipment."[21]

Photograph[edit]

Frank Fournier, a French reporter who landed in Bogotá on November 15, took a photograph of Omayra in her final days, titled "The Agony of Omayra Sánchez".[22] When he reached Armero at dawn on the 16th, a farmer directed him to Omayra, who by then had been trapped for nearly three days and was near-deserted. Fournier later described the town as "very haunting," with "eerie silence" punctuated by screaming.[20] He claimed he took the photograph feeling that he could only "report properly on the courage and the suffering and the dignity of the little girl" in his attempt to publicize the disaster's need for relief efforts,[20] feeling otherwise "powerless".[23]

At the time the photograph was taken, awareness of the tragedy extended to many parts of the world: Omayra was one of the victims at the center of the associated controversy over responsibility for the disaster. The image captured widespread attention. According to an unnamed BBC reporter, "many were appalled at witnessing so intimately what transpired to be the last few hours of Omayra's life."[20] The image attracted more extensive controversy after it appeared in Paris Match; the public accused Fournier of being "a vulture," to which he responded by stating, "I felt the story was important for me to report and I was happier that there was some reaction; it would have been worse if people had not cared about it. ... I believe the photo helped raise money from around the world in aid and helped highlight the irresponsibility and lack of courage of the country's leaders." [20] The picture later won the World Press Photo of the Year for 1985.[24]

Legacy[edit]

Isabel Allende wrote a short story based on Omayra's death.

The Armero catastrophe came shortly after the M-19 guerrilla group's raid and subsequent Palace of Justice siege on November 6, worsening an already chaotic situation. After Omayra's death, blame for it and for the Armero tragedy fell on the Colombian government for its inaction and general indifference to warning signs prior to the volcano's eruption.[25]

The Nevado del Ruiz volcano is still active, according to the Volcano Watch Center in Colombia. Melting only 10 percent of the ice would produce mudflows with a volume of up to 200,000,000 cubic meters (7.06×109 cu ft)—similar to the mudflow that destroyed Armero in 1985.[12] Such lahars can travel up to 100 kilometers (62 mi) along river valleys in a matter of few hours.[12] Estimates show that up to 500,000 people living in the Combeima, Chinchiná, Coello-Toche, and Guali valleys are at risk, and 100,000 of these are considered to be at high risk.[26] The city of Armero, however, no longer exists and the site was turned into a memorial with Christian crosses and a small monument that exists in Omayra's memory.[27]

In the years following the eruption, Omayra's plight has been constantly mentioned in media commemorations, especially newspapers like El Tiempo.[28] Although many victims of the disaster were commemorated, Omayra in particular has attracted lasting attention in popular culture in the mediums of poetry, novels, and music pieces.[29] A punk rock band formed in Chile in 2008 named themselves Omayra Sánchez to make obvious the "discontent that they feel with the negligence on the part of the people who in this day and age run the world".[18] Adiós, Omayra: La catástrofe de Armero (1988), written by Eduardo Santa as a response to the eruption, depicts the girl's last days of life in detail and cites her in its introduction as an eternal symbol of the catastrophe.[18] In No Moriras (1994), Germán Santa María Barragán writes that of all the horrors he saw at Armero, nothing hurt him more than seeing the face of Omayra under the ruins of her house.[16] Isabel Allende's short story "And of Clay Are We Created" ("De barro estamos hechos") is told from the perspective of a reporter who tries to help a girl trapped under the fireplace of her ruined home. Allende later wrote of her inspiration for the story, "Her [Omayra's] big black eyes, filled with resignation and wisdom, still pursue me in my dreams. Writing the story failed to exorcise her ghost."[30]

As the Armero tragedy was exacerbated by the lack of early warnings,[3] unwise land use,[31] and the unpreparedness of nearby communities,[3] the government of Colombia created a special program, the Oficina Nacional para la Atención de Desastres (National Office for Disaster Preparedness), now known as the Dirección de Prevención y Atención de Desastres (Directorate for Disaster Prevention and Preparedness)[32] – to prevent such incidents in the future. All Colombian cities were directed to promote prevention planning to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters.[31]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ This was the first hazard map ever prepared for a Colombian volcano.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Martí and Ernst, pg 291.
  2. ^ "Rescuers in Colombia refuse to give up hunt for survivors". Milwaukee Journal. Elizabeth Brenner. November 18, 1985. Retrieved November 24, 2010. 
  3. ^ a b c Fielding, Emma. "Volcano Hell Transcript". BBC Television. BBC. Retrieved September 3, 2008. 
  4. ^ "BBC:On this day: November 13: 1985: Volcano kills thousands in Colombia". BBC News Online. November 13, 1985. Retrieved September 3, 2009. 
  5. ^ a b Villegas, pg 5.
  6. ^ Gueri, Miguel (October 2004). "Eruption of El Ruiz Volcano, Colombia" (PDF). National Autonomous University of Nicaragua-León. pg 50. Retrieved July 22, 2010. 
  7. ^ a b Villegas, pg 6.
  8. ^ Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (November 29, 2009). "Lessons Learned from the Armero, Colombia Tragedy". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved July 20, 2010. 
  9. ^ Staff. "Nevado del Ruiz – Facts and Figures". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on September 25, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2008. 
  10. ^ Topinka, Lyn. "Deadliest Volcanic Eruptions Since 1500 A.D.". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved September 20, 2008. 
  11. ^ Staff (November 14, 1995). "World News Briefs". CNN. Retrieved September 20, 2008. 
  12. ^ a b c Huggel, Cristian; Ceballos, Jorge Luis; Pulgarín, Bernardo; Ramírez, Jair; Thouret, Jean-Claude (2007). "Review and reassessment of hazards owing to volcano–glacier interactions in Colombia" (pdf). Annals of Glaciology. 45: 128–136. Bibcode:2007AnGla..45..128H. doi:10.3189/172756407782282408. Retrieved April 20, 2011. 
  13. ^ a b c "Trapped Girl, 13, Dies". The New York Times. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. November 17, 1985. 
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h Barragán, Colombia y Otras Sangres.
  15. ^ a b "Ordeal Ends in Death". Leader-Post. Postmedia Network Inc. November 18, 1985. Retrieved April 19, 2011. 
  16. ^ a b c d e Barragán (1994), pg 7.
  17. ^ Zeiderman, pg 10.
  18. ^ a b c d Zeiderman, pg 13.
  19. ^ a b Lacey, Dana (August 31, 2010). "Why We Don't Cover Pakistan". Canadian Journalism Project. Canadian Journalism Foundation. Retrieved April 19, 2011. 
  20. ^ a b c d e f "Picture power: Tragedy of Omayra Sanchez". BBC News Online. BBC. September 30, 2005. Retrieved September 28, 2010. 
  21. ^ a b c "Colombian officials defend rescue effort; lack of equipment blamed". Star-News. Bob Gruber. November 24, 1985. Retrieved November 24, 2010. 
  22. ^ "Ottawa Man Third". Ottawa Citizen. James Orban. February 7, 1986. Retrieved April 19, 2011. 
  23. ^ Zeiderman, pg 14.
  24. ^ "World Photo Award". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. The New York Times Company. February 7, 1986. Retrieved April 19, 2011. 
  25. ^ Camp, Vic (March 31, 2006). "Nevado del Ruiz (1985)". San Diego State University. Retrieved September 3, 2008. 
  26. ^ (subscription required) Thouret, Jean-Claude; Murcia, A; Salinas, R.; Parra, E.; Cepeda, H.; Cantagrel, J-M. (1990). Stratigraphy and quaternary eruptive history of the Ruiz-Tolima volcanic massif, Colombia. Implications for assessement of volcanic hazards (PDF). Symposium international géodynamique andine: résumés des communications. Paris. pp. 391–393. 
  27. ^ Johnson, Tim (September 18, 1997). "Survivors of avalanche relive tragedy through TV movie". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Journal Communications. Retrieved July 31, 2010. 
  28. ^ Zeiderman, pgs 12–13.
  29. ^ Zeiderman, pg 12.
  30. ^ Correas de Zapata and Sayers Peden, pg 76.
  31. ^ a b Touret, Jean-Claude; Laforge, Christophe (1994). "Hazard Appraisal and Hazard-Zone Mapping of Flooding and Debris Flowage in the Rio Combeima Valley and Ibague City, Tolima Department, Colombia". GeoJournal. 34 (4): 407–413. Retrieved August 31, 2010. 
  32. ^ "Dirección de Prevención y Atención de Desastres — DPAD" (in Spanish). Departamento Nacional de Planeación, República de Colombia. June 24, 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2010. 

Sources[edit]

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