The fire occurred at dawn, people tried to throw water on it with buckets and they denounced, “they took a long time with the fire truck.” The emblematic church of Salento suffered damage to a large part of its structure.
Colombian News.
The emblematic Nuestra Señora del Carmen Catholic Church in Salento, Quindío, ended up partially damaged this Saturday morning after a fire that, according to reports from the population, took time to respond to relief agencies.
So far it is unknown what started the flames.
“No, since everything is being damaged,” people are heard saying in videos recorded during the emergency. “Let them arrive now, they are taking a long time!” It was the desperation in the place because no firefighters arrived.
He set fire inside the church in Salento, affecting benches, walls, columns and part of the roof, as well as other characteristic elements of this religious temple.
The church of Salento Quindio today. ?????Great loss pic.twitter.com/ezscZOngWK
– Alejandro Dávila P (@josea1742) December 17, 2022
People tried to put out buckets of water and enter, the police had to cordon off and prevent the situation from getting complicated.
No injuries were reported.
Earthquakes have affected it too
In Salento, this is an emblematic tremor located in its main square, on Calle 5 and 6, and a reference point for tourism in the area. According to history “it was the first parish to be established in the Quindío basin in 1843”.
A temple with two towers that, as a result of the earthquakes in the twenties, was rebuilt with a single tower. Again in 1999 another earthquake affected it and they had to remodel it again, a process that took years.
Now, this church in Salento is again affected by a disaster.