The Mexican Embassy in Colombia reported that it received information about two Mexican nationals who have not been located and who were in the municipality of Pereira following last Monday’s 7.4-magnitude earthquake, which has left 288 people dead. Their relatives continue searching for them with “faith and hope.”
Mario Alberto Zapata Verdier and his wife, Brenda Eloísa Flores Reyes, were staying at the Hotel Dibeni in Pereira when the devastating earthquake struck. Since then, their family has had no information about them. Before the tragedy occurred, their daughter, Mariela Zapata, managed to speak with her father to confirm their return flights. After that, communication was lost.
“I told him I would check them [the tickets], and I went into my phone to look at social media. The very first thing that came up was the news about the earthquake. I immediately tried to contact him and her, but since then I have not heard anything from them,” Mariela Zapata told RCN Noticias.
She activated all the search protocols available through the Colombian government. “I immediately registered him with Colombia Te Busca and the Red Cross. I contacted the Mexican Embassy there in Colombia, and they are not at the Institute of Legal Medicine, hospitals, or shelters,” she added.
Her daughter plans to travel to Colombia on August 16 to assist with the search. However, she has not lost hope of finding them alive because rescue teams have detected signs of life beneath the rubble. “Hopefully it is them,” Mariela said, adding that she is only waiting for good news.
According to ABC Noticias, the couple is originally from Durango and arrived in Bogotá on August 6. They later traveled to the Coffee Region to learn more about the country.
Germán Zapata Verdier, a brother, wrote on Facebook that they continue waiting for news, but that there have been no updates so far. “Faith and hope remain firm,” he posted.
“Thank you to everyone who has asked about my brother’s situation. At the moment we have no relevant information. The Colombian authorities and the Mexican Embassy in Colombia are supporting us,” he added in another message.
Mario Zapata and his wife Brenda Flores were staying at the Hotel Dibeni in Pereira.
Adriana Mireles also expressed on social media that the family is experiencing moments of great anguish and desperation, “hoping to find them and receive news about them.” The families of both Mario Alberto and Brenda Eloísa requested support through a fundraiser to travel to Pereira and carry out the necessary searches.
“What matters to me is going there to find out about my sister. Somehow I have to bring her back, and I hope it is alive,” wrote Alessa Reyes, Brenda’s sister, on Facebook. She later posted a message stating that she had already purchased the flights, but requested assistance with any expenses that might arise. She said she would travel with two of Mario Alberto’s children.
“I never imagined being in this situation. When I saw missing persons, I used to think, ‘what an ordeal it must be to live through that situation,’ and now that I am experiencing it, unfortunately, with them so far away, it feels even worse because there is not much we can do from here,” Alessa Reyes said.
The Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) stated that the diplomatic mission remains in communication with the relatives of the Mexican nationals. So far, the Mexican Embassy says that the families of the missing individuals have received “all the support and assistance” in response to the situation.
“Since the case became known, the necessary arrangements were made for the couple to be officially included on the missing persons list, and direct coordination was established with rescue groups from the Colombian Red Cross,” it explained.
Among the measures implemented, the Mexican Embassy in Colombia said that “the priority of the case was communicated to the national Unified Command Post [PMU], through the Sedena liaison assigned to the embassy.”
The embassy also activated a network of private contacts to track and verify information at hospitals and held a high-level meeting with the mayor of Pereira to review overall progress.
In order to “address this case specifically,” the diplomatic mission assigned a liaison officer to conduct the search in person and stated that it will continue providing priority assistance and follow-up in an effort to locate the Mexican nationals.
Source: eluniversal
