By plane and by land, look for eight hikers in the Los Nevados Park La Crónica del Quindío

Relief agencies have set up a unified command post to coordinate the work.

This Sunday morning began with the aerial and ground sweep, in Los Nevados National Park, to find a hiker who apparently suffered a broken hip. Up to now, relief operations continue

Diego Herrera, director of the Quindío Red Cross, reported the first thing Sunday, the rescuers of the entity undertook the ascent to Tolima mountain by Salento, taking into account that the exact location of travelers was unknown.

"Eight hikers from Bogotá climbed the Tolima mountain last week, across Salento, with the goal of making a summit. When they arrived, they made a descent and, apparently, one of the people suffered a fall. The first diagnosis given by the companions was that it could be due to a broken hip, so it is very important to Extraction with the utmost care and with all protocol, because the geography of the park could cause more serious damage or even internal bleeding "said the official.

He stated that the report was received on Saturday, however, despite the fact that mountaineers claimed to be on Tolima's side, their localization teams showed another

"Saturday, a Rescue operation was conducted on the Tolima side, because they indicated that they knew the area and that they were going there, at night, when they sent us to the location of the GPS, the positioning of the map did not give this direction, but showed towards Quindío.This caused us a duality, because it could be that the devices were decalcified or that they were lost, then we prefer to start with the overland road from here. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, because of the dimensions of the park. "

He said that the road made by the rescuers was stipulated between 10 and 12 hours, so the results are at stretched out on Sunday night.

"From the neighboring apartment they also do work, they have also requested the support of the air force helicopters, to enter this camp and do a sweep of the air, in order to throw both possibilities.The rescue route from here can be 10 or 12 hours, depending on the weather or road conditions. "

Affirmed that relief agencies asked hikers to stay in an area.

"We asked them to remain silent, because if they are lost and continue to walk, they will be lost, and further, they continue to move to the wounded, they could cause a more serious injury. "

Fáber Mosquera Álvarez, director of the Departmental Disaster Risk Management Unit, Udegerd, emphasized that the work was done in a coordinated manner.

"There was a process of articulation of Quindío with units of the Civil Defense, the Red Cross, the Omgerd of Salento, the Foundation of the Scout Team of Emergency and Udegerd.This Sunday morning we talked to people who are there with the wounded and they told us that it was stable. De Tolima s & # 39; coordinated the aerial support and here the terrestrial, in order to advance and stabilize the patient. "

Tatiana Palacio Mejía
THE CHRONICLE