Home Front Command rescuers at the disaster front in Colombia: "We put emotions aside in the face of chaos"

The powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck western Colombia at the beginning of the month left behind a catastrophic path of destruction, chaos, and loss. The tremor, defined by local experts as the strongest the country has experienced in the last decade, severely damaged nine different districts and led to the immediate declaration of a national state of emergency.

The official death toll in the heavy disaster has climbed to at least 265 people, alongside over 3,500 injured and hundreds of missing persons whose fate is unknown. The main destruction and collapses were concentrated in the city of Cali — the third largest city in Colombia — where dozens of buildings and multi-story houses collapsed, and many residents remained trapped under the rubble of concrete and iron.

In view of the heavy humanitarian disaster and under the guidance of the political echelon in Israel, the "Brit Re'im" (Union of Friends) aid and rescue delegation of the Home Front Command, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense was sent from the country. The delegation, commanded by Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Pinto, consists of about 80 rescuers and engineering experts, both active duty and reservists, who arrived at the scene 96 hours after the disaster and immediately began intensive, round-the-clock work at the most difficult destruction sites.

Deputy commander of the delegation, Col. (res.) Zohar Moshe, a veteran 63-year-old officer from Netanya who has served in the National Search and Rescue Unit (YACHSAR) since 1996, describes in a direct conversation from the field the variety of tasks placed on their shoulders. According to Zohar, "In Colombia, our activity as a Home Front Command unit, besides the advocacy effort, is to work at sites where there are trapped people, to rescue the living or the dead."

Alongside these actions, he details the close cooperation with other delegations: "The effort, among other things, is to help bodies and parallel delegations locate the bodies of trapped people." Zohar explains that the unit uses an exceptional key tool: "We have a unique method called population intelligence that allows us to pinpoint a spot and examine whether there are trapped people in it and where."

According to him, this method combines cross-referencing engineering data with information collected from families and neighbors, alongside requesting building plans from local authorities to map exactly where the trapped people are, thereby saving precious time and resources.

In addition, Lt. Col. (res.) Ariel Lubiner, commander of the delegation's operational headquarters, spoke about the difficult mental and organizational coping in the heart of the disaster scene. Lubiner describes his feelings in the face of the destruction surrounding them: "You see chaos, and inside it are trapped people, alive and not alive. You put emotions aside and have to take care of the souls that are there."

He clarifies that the key to the success of the mission and the connection with the local population is rooted in the value-based approach of the rescuers in the field: "When you arrive with humility and modesty, the work improves tenfold, and you work in successful cooperation and bring great results." Faced with possible frustration due to the dimensions of the disaster, Lubiner shows impressive composure and notes: "I received a sector and I will exhaust it and save as much as possible. I look at everyone I saved and not at those I didn't."

From destruction to rehabilitation and preservation of the soul

The professionalism and speed of the Home Front Command fighters in Colombia rely to a large extent on the experience of the forces from a huge series of rescue operations in the past, as well as on the fresh operation they were partners in just a few weeks earlier in the neighboring country.

As recalled, only about three weeks ago, a force of the delegation operated in Venezuela, which also experienced two severe and frequent earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5.

In Venezuela, residents dealt with the collapse of critical infrastructure, power outages, and a complete disconnection in communication networks. In Venezuela, the mission of the Home Front Command personnel was different in its nature. It was not a physical rescue delegation of extracting living trapped people, but a complex engineering activity of clearing dangerous buildings, demolishing shaky walls, and safety sorting of local infrastructure.

Commander of the delegation, Brig. Gen. Pinto, emphasized that the experience gained in Venezuela helped directly to streamline the work in Colombia: "We are refining the action and finishing faster than the time it would have taken the locals, and thus saving resources."

Now, after the forces have completed the location and rescue of all missing persons at the destruction sites where they operated, they are gradually moving to sorting buildings and assisting in planning the long-term rehabilitation of Cali.

Alongside the engineering professionalism, the prolonged work in disaster areas takes a heavy emotional and mental toll on the fighters who are exposed to unbearable sights. Col. (res.) Zohar Moshe, who has over 12 aid delegations around the world behind him — from Kenya and Haiti to Turkey and Nepal — shares with exceptional honesty the internal coping of the unit members: "We do many actions to keep our souls."

He says that the teams encounter heartbreaking stories and initiate dialogue circles to support each other, out of a deep understanding that they are human beings with families who seek to maintain their physical and mental health alike. The Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, summarized the delegation's activity and told the commanders that sending the best capabilities to help another country in times of trouble, precisely in days when Israel is dealing with significant threats from within, carries with it a value-based message of the highest order.