The Haunting Photograph Of A Trapped 13-Year-Old Girl That Shocked The World
In 1985, the world watched as Omayra Sánchez, trapped in volcanic rubble, begged for help that wouldn’t come
On November 13, 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz — a highly active volcano in Colombia — erupted, melting glaciers and sending torrents of mud and debris into the villages at its base. Thirteen-year-old Omayra Sánchez, along with her family, was trembling in her home as one of these torrents, called a lahar, literally wiped their town of Armero from the map. Buried beneath the roof of her home, Sánchez yelled for aid workers to free her from the muck. And they tried. But, unbeknownst to workers, Sánchez’s legs were pinned beneath a brick door and being clutched tightly by one of her dead family members. There was no way to save Sánchez’s life in the aftermath of the 1985 Nevado del Ruiz eruption.
Lucid for nearly 60 hours after the quake, Sánchez chatted and joked with workers as they tried to save her life. As the exposure began to overtake the young girl, and the reality she was going to die set in, Sánchez told her mother goodbye and asked workers to let her rest. Frank Fournier, a French photographer, captured Omayra Sánchez’s last moments in a haunting photograph. Her…
