At 6:00 pm, on Monday, February 2, 2009, Edinson Hernandez Lanz boarded a bus in Medellin with 31 other passengers en route to Quibdo via the mountains in northwestern Colombia. Although the distance is a mere 158 kilometres (approx), the trip takes roughly 15 hours due to poor road conditions. In addition, the bus had apparently exceeded its cargo capacity. The 20-year-old Hernandez, on leave for good behaviour from the Colombian Armed Forces, was headed home to Necocli, a village not far from Quibdo in the Choco region.
On this fateful night at about 11:00 pm, the bus took on another 12 to 14 passengers and their bags at El Siete. Laden with passengers and cargo, the bus lumbered along the pothole-riddled road. Some two to three hours later, the bus came upon a narrow stretch where the road suddenly gave way. The bus plunged some 200 metres down a ravine and into the mighty waters of the Atrato River in the dark hours of Tuesday morning.
Asleep when the bus went off the road, Hernandez awoke to the cries of those around him. He survived the impact of the bus crash, but had to find a way out. The soldier attempted to flee the bus, as another passenger held fast to his feet, preventing him from escaping. He eventually managed to free himself, losing only his shoes in the process. The current swept him down the river where he managed to grab hold of a rock, and from there, made it to the river bank about three kilometres away from the site of the accident.
He reportedly spent a long time in the water before being able to drag himself out of the river. Once on the river bank, he began his ascent up the side of the ravine. He climbed and rested at intervals, braving the sun, rain, humidity and cold, until he eventually made it back up to the road. Although there were some 200 people combing the area on both sides of the river, no one heard his cries for help.
When rescue workers saw him approach three days after the accident, he was initially mistaken for one of their colleagues. Although his clothes were wet and dirty, they were still intact. Once they noticed the gash on his head and that he had no shoes, they realized that he was a survivor. Before he was evacuated to hospital in Medellin, he gave vital information on three other survivors who had been swept down the river with him.
"I grabbed onto branches to make my way back up the ravine to get help. There were three other people with me," said Hernandez.
Mist is apparently to blame for preventing helicopters from reaching the site and evacuating the three injured survivors. Red Cross rescue workers and local hospital personnel were the first to the scene to provide the group with medical attention.
According to the Director of the Colombian Emergency Preparedness Department, John Rendón Roldán, the other three survivors were injured and suffering from hypothermia and dehydration, but were expected to survive.
To date, only 10 survivors have been found. At least 15 have died and another 20 are still missing. Choco government officials, students and residents are demanding that the national government invest in repairing and maintaining this road to prevent any further fatalities. The Colombian government has acknowledged that the condition of the road was the cause of the accident.
For interview footage with Hernandez click here.
Sources:
http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/antioquia/
http://www.elpais.com.co/
http://www.lafm.com.co/
www.caracol.com.co/
http://www.univision.com/portal.jhtml
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