The story of two Venezuelan brothers has attracted attention after the earthquake in Colombia.
These are Winder and Deivi Delfín, the 15 and 17 year old teenagers who survived the 7.4 magnitude earthquake on Monday, August 10, weeks after having experienced a similar tragedy in Venezuela that left several of their relatives dead.
On June 24, Winder and Deivi survived two strong earthquakes recorded in Venezuela, with magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5. However, tragedy took their mother, younger brother and grandmother away from them.
After the earthquakes, the teenagers spent 26 days searching through the rubble for their relatives. His story was later picked up by international media such as The New York Times.
With the intention of protecting them and helping them start over, their father decided to take them to Cali, where he works as a barber. But a few weeks after leaving Venezuela, the young people once again experienced the fear of an earthquake.
The moment of the earthquake in Cali
When the house they were in began to shake, the two brothers ran out, in panic. His father was outside the house and returned immediately when he found out what had happened.
For a few minutes he could not locate his children, until he finally managed to find them. The reunion was marked by the fear of losing them again after the tragedy experienced in Venezuela.
The family decided to stay outside the house due to fear of possible aftershocks. "We are fine here. We are here, alive," the father told NYT, in the midst of the anguish caused by the new disaster.
The decision to move to Colombia sought to offer the teenagers the possibility of rebuilding their lives after the loss of three family members, but the earthquake in Cali once again placed the family in front of a situation that seemed to have been left behind.
The story of Winder and Deivi thus represents a double experience of survival. Despite the fear and emotional impact, both brothers managed to come out alive again.
For their father, finding them safe after the second earthquake represents, in the midst of a new tragedy, the possibility of clinging to life and continuing with the attempt to rebuild his family.
