Mass Celebrated for 25,000 Colombia Volcano Victims

Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo celebrated a Mass on Saturday for 25,000 victims of a volcano-triggered mud slide and blessed the disaster zone from a military aircraft flying over the devastated area.

Former President Jimmy Carter joined President Belisario Betancur at the presidential palace Saturday morning to launch the third phase of a national inoculation drive to head off epidemics. Carter and Betancur, joined by the cardinal, later flew over the town of Armero, 60 miles west of Bogota, which was destroyed in the Nov. 13 disaster.

Carter and Betancur’s wife, Rosa Elena, also visited the towns of Lerida and Mariquita, where Carter inoculated children and talked to residents about the mud slide.

The government has been criticized for moving too slowly to help mud slide victims, but Carter praised the relief and rescue efforts.

Praise From Carter

“The disaster has been handled very well by the army, the president and the people who live here,” he said.

Betancur and the Roman Catholic prelate later flew to Ibague, 80 miles west of Bogota, where Lopez Trujillo celebrated a Mass in the local cathedral for the volcano victims.

“There is no pain like our pain,” Betancur said in a speech. He added the dead were “unrecoverable” but said homes and farms could be rebuilt.

“We will cry for our affliction,” he said. “We will rebuild our cities.”

Betancur vowed to plant one tree in honor of each victim.

Church officials have discussed the possibility of declaring Armero, which lost 80% of its population, a mass grave. The idea is being studied to see what effect such a declaration would have on reconstruction in the area.

State of Emergency

An estimated 25,000 people died when the long-dormant Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted, triggering an avalance of mud and ash that buried Armero and part of the town of Chinchina. The government Friday said losses from the disaster will exceed $210 million. Betancur has declared a state of national emergency to clear the way for quick reconstruction of the area.

Geologists said the 17,712-foot volcano was quiet Saturday.