Colombia quake survivor faces life without triplet sisters

Colombian earthquake survivor Ana Maria Saavedra is out of physical danger, but for her the hardest part lies ahead: starting a new life without her two triplet sisters and her parents, a relative told AFP.

Their apartment building in Cali, one of the cities hit hardest by Monday's powerful 7.4-magnitude quake, collapsed into a pile of rubble.

Saavedra, 23, survived after taking shelter under a table. Her family was not so lucky.

Parents Jairo and Victoria died in each other's arms in a bedroom.

One of her sisters was buried beneath a staircase, while the other showed no signs of life under the rubble at the end of the "golden period" of survival within 72 hours of a natural disaster, after which the chance of finding victims alive plummets.

"Neighbors say they began to hear Ana Maria's screams and immediately came to her aid... and took her to a clinic," said cousin Carlos Augusto Saavedra.

Ana Maria underwent surgery for a pelvic fracture, added her cousin, a 49-year-old architect who, like dozens of others, has been clearing the rubble from the building where his relatives lived.

"She is conscious, fully alert and able to speak" -- and receiving psychological care, he added.

Doctors even predict she will be able to walk again in two to three weeks.

Saavedra's parents were known for their upbeat spirit, as fans of local football club Deportivo Cali and as lovers of salsa, the music for which their city is known as the world capital.

Since Monday, friends and neighbors have launched an "impressive" search effort to try to find the family alive, said the cousin, wearing a hard hat and appearing overwhelmed. But the mission has produced no miracles.

Ana Maria, Sofia and Isabella were inseparable triplets who followed the same path into marketing, spending their final university semester in France before returning together to Cali, where they all worked.

Carlos Augusto Saavedra described his cousins as "very cheerful" and happy people who "really enjoyed spending time with family, who loved music and adored salsa."

The sisters collected records and organized parties with friends to listen to music together, he added.

Friends of the family shared their grief on social media. "I just found Jairito's record collection," Cristian Riascos posted on Instagram, recalling his friend and the sisters' father as "a salsa lover and collector."

Cousin Saavedra watched as a yellow crane helped lift large chunks of concrete walls, roofing, rebar and other debris from the remains of the four-story building where his relatives lived.

Rescue workers wielding megaphones meanwhile repeated warnings about other buildings under threat of collapse.

The earthquake has left more than 280 people dead across western Colombia, with hundreds more still missing.