SAD NEWS: BBC Breakfast halted for tragic d3ath announcement minutes into show
Jon Kay announced that 132 people have died in an earthquake in Colombia (Image: BBC)
BBC Breakfast came to a halt for a tragic update as Jon Kay announced that more than 100 people have died in Colombia. A massive 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the country on Monday (August 10) afternoon, with the death toll now at 132 and expected to rise.
The presenter said: “Authorities in Colombia now say 132 people were killed by an earthquake struck in the west of the country yesterday.
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“The death toll is likely to rise as many people are still trapped under collapsed buildings. Tremors were felt in neighbouring Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.”
Sharing further details on the devastating incident was Shaimaa Khalil, whose report was accompanied by horrifying videos of people in Colombia attempting to flee as buildings collapsed in their path.
Khalil said: “An ordinary day shattered in seconds. There was nowhere steady to stand. People clung to whatever they could. Buildings gave way as a magnitude 7.4 earthquake tore through the morning rush hour.”
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Footage featured residents running for safety and people at a hospital scattered between ambulances as part of a building collapsed near them.
More harrowing videos displayed emergency crews and other people searching for survivors in what remained of a three-storey building, which had completely caved in.
Among those caught in the chaos was Brit Dan Cutler, who had been in Cali for just one night.
“It felt like an out of body experience of suddenly realising we could be in genuine danger. It was terrifying and very scary,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Pereira, Khalil revealed the full extent of the destruction has only just begun to emerge.
The BBC correspondent continued: “The earthquake’s epicenter was near the small community of San Jose del Palmar in the western region of Choco. But its force was felt across Columbia and beyond its borders.
“Those who have escaped have been warned to remain outside and away from buildings that may no longer be safe.”
She added: “The search for survivors continues with hope that more can be found and fears the ground could move again.”
After the earthquake hit, Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa Azin, wrote on X: “All our solidarity with Colombia and with the families affected by this morning’s earthquake.
