Teens who fled Venezuela after deadly quakes caught in another disaster in Colombia

Colombia’s Tremor Reopens Old Wounds for Venezuelan Siblings

Ninoda.com – Monday’s ground-shaking event in Cali brought back painful memories for two teenagers who had barely begun to settle after losing their family in Venezuela. Winder and Deivi Delfín, brothers aged 17 and 15, felt the familiar rumble beneath their feet just days after relocating to Colombia following devastating earthquakes that claimed three relatives.

A Cycle of Shaking

“The earthquake is haunting me,” Deivi Delfín shared with the BBC. The younger brother described feeling as though both he and Winder had been relentlessly pursued by seismic activity over recent months. After surviving twin quakes in Venezuela, the siblings found themselves caught in yet another powerful tremor after arriving in Colombia.

Three days prior to this latest shaking, the brothers had moved to Cali where their father Deivid works. They had left La Guaira, the Venezuelan region most severely affected by the June 24 earthquakes, after their apartment building collapsed, crushing their mother Yusmani, grandmother Carmen, and 10-year-old brother Moissés beneath concrete.

Remembering the Day Everything Changed

At the end of June, Winder and Deivi had visited Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. Their older brother wanted to bring Moissés along, but their mother refused to let him go.

“I kept insisting but my mum just wouldn’t budge,” Winder recalled. On their journey back home that evening, two massive earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 struck within 39 seconds of each other. The brothers embraced and closed their eyes tightly. When they opened them once more, dust and debris filled the air around them.

Upon reaching their building, they witnessed the 12-story structure crumble, trapping their loved ones under a mountain of rubble. “My world came crashing down,” Winder said.

Searching Through the Ruins

The Venezuelan government reported that more than 6,300 people perished in the earthquakes, though the exact number of missing individuals remains unclear. Winder and Deivi immediately joined rescue operations, going without food or shelter for three days while their father Deivid searched for them after returning from Colombia.

Once reunited, the brothers embarked on a nearly month-long quest to locate their family members. Deivid understood that climbing into unstable debris posed dangers, but his sons refused to be discouraged. Being teenagers allowed them to navigate through tight spaces, crawling between concrete slabs using only flashlights or mobile phones to guide rescuers.

“By that point, I didn’t feel like a child anymore,” Deivi recalled.

Slowly, pieces of their family’s life emerged from the wreckage—Moissés’s shorts, Yusmani’s Bible, and an incomplete shopping list. These fragments signaled they were drawing nearer to where their home once stood.

Reunion in the Rubble

Deivi noticed a floral fabric in the debris and recognized it as his grandmother’s skirt. Firefighters soon confirmed they had discovered a woman’s body. Winder was the first to identify his mother. A plastic bag she had used for hair dye remained on her head when they left for the beach. He approached her carefully and remained beside her for several moments, though they could not immediately retrieve her body because a concrete slab pinned it down.

While removing that slab, they found Moissés. The young boy still clutched his mother’s hand. Deivid collapsed upon seeing his son.

“When his little head fell into my hands… I broke down,” he said.

A New Beginning, Familiar Fears

After laying their family members to rest, the brothers moved into their father’s modest home in a working-class neighborhood on Cali’s northeastern outskirts. They expressed hope for a future filled with diligent work and education, wanting to make their mother proud.

However, their peace was short-lived. Colombia experienced its strongest earthquake of the century—a magnitude 7.4 event that killed hundreds and left many more unaccounted for. Cali once again ranked among the most severely impacted regions.

Deivi, who was sleeping when the tremor started, initially believed he was dreaming as the ground began to shake, unaware that history was repeating itself.