After fleeing Venezuela’s twin quakes, teenage brothers find themselves in a new catastrophe in Colombia

On 24 June, a pair of 7.2‑ and 7.5‑meter earthquakes struck Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, collapsing a 12‑storey apartment block that was home to Deivi (15), his brother Winder (17), their mother Yusmani, grandmother Carmen and younger brother Moissés. The tremors left the family in rubble, leading Deivi and Winder to survive by salvaging what little they could and later searching for other survivors.

Three days after the earthquake, Deivi and Winder found their way to Cali, Colombia, where their father Deivid works. The move was a brief respite, but on the following Monday a new 7.4‑meter quake shook the city, throwing the brothers back into danger. As walls collapsed, the two teens recovered fragments of their lost family: a piece of a floral skirt, a Bible and an unfinished shopping list, hinting at a life that had been torn apart.

Winder was the first to recognize his mother’s body buried beneath concrete. He held her as the rubble fell, then sobbed as the rescuers pulled her out. Deivi, meanwhile, steadied his father after forgetting their whereabouts in the panic, chanting, “Dad, stay calm. We’ve been through this before.”

The brothers are now living in a modest neighbourhood on the northern outskirts of Cali, but the trauma remains fresh. They have vowed to work hard and study, hoping their mother would be proud of their survival and determination. Their journey illustrates a tragic pattern: displaced families facing consecutive natural disasters, each one eroding hope while demanding resilience.