oinbian rescue workers assist a woman washed away from the town of Armero by the muddy flood waters. church—a 5- or 6-story build- was almost completely buried, said. ! cheverry made it to safety, he ldined, by building a bridge to 1pround with bits of wood, pick- his way past pieces of pots, tele- op sets, homes and bodies. ° ppaking calmly but bitterly, the _ pital administrator criticized efnment authorities for hesitat- before declaring an emergency. sfute reports of volcanic activity 3 p.m. yesterday, he said, nation- aflio stations were still advising after.a natural dam .of rocks and... stone above the town broke under the force of onrushing waters. The destructive mud flows had’ been predicted in a_ report presented only yesterday by Colom- bian geologists, The report was or- dered several months ago after __Nevado_del_Ruiz_started showing early signs of reawakening. It was the scene of an earthquake in 1845 1.000, ABRQVECASE Releasd BOOKORINS EIA. quin Acosta. The last time lava flowed was in UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL/REUTER ~But night’s. events proved—the report -also predicted that the flow of mud would be slow and easily permit,the | evacuation of surrounding popula- tions. Citing Armero specifically, | the study—as summarized in to- day’s editions of the Colombian dai- ly El Tiempo-said the town could be cleared within two hours without danger. te a tral air traffic corridor and its, ex- plosion last night was witnessed by less accurately—as - last | 4 Bogota" * 6 - COLOMBIA , | Some wept. Others, dressed only in this: underwear or bedclothes they had o wen, n.when the disaster struck, shivered in shock i in | the warm air here. CPYRGHT. . ARMERO, From Al ‘her and her family as they climbed to the second story to pray for their lives. Sandra’ Patricia Perez, 13, her - face badly scratched and her head -- wrapped in a white cloth, said she nearly choked beneath the mud but’ somehow. remained conscious as she tumbled away from Armero in the flood. Hortensia Oliveros, 19 years old and eight months pregnant, saw the - rushing. water sweep their 11- month-old child out of her hus- band’s arms, In the panic, she heard Fil ees heard of him. She ended up a near a CPYRGHT- Ruined Town’s Survivors Describe N ight OL Horror in Armero instructed him ‘to take cover in the stadium. There; he saw _perhaps 3,000 people - pressing against the entrance when the tor- rent of hot mud came over them. He, too, was immersed: in the -flood, he. said, which scalded his . body. Holding to a tree branch, he drifted six miles to the. town of Guayaval, where at 5:30 this morn- ing he was rescued. “Iwas just about to give up,” he said. His wife, eight months pregnant, “has not been found, ” In this town, about six. “miles north of Amero, flood waters knocked out a bridge spanning the Guali River and demolished 10 to =9 20 waterside homes, said residents. Some people decided to evacuate, but hundreds of curious onlookers
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