Mother and son died in a growing in Medellín

Being only 20 meters from the La Guayabala Quebrada – that many used to describe as a simple “thread” of water – ended up becoming a tragedy for a family of the Altavista corregimiento, in Medellín. The current, overwhelmed with a force that multiplied up to eight his usual flow, swept everything in his path and took a mother and son.

The loud noise of the ravine that for decades saw pass to the side of their house made the five members of this family could not sleep quietly, but their concern increased to the extent that the tributary was no longer going through its channel, but that it got into the house, located just on one of the meanders of this ravine, born in the San Antonio de Prado district of Prado and flows into the Quebrada Altavista.

This caused the current to drag Yulieth Victoria Arboleda López, 37, and his son José Miguel Muñoz Arboleda, 13; This, who had managed to get out of the house along with the other occupants, returned because he wanted to rescue his mother.

“The boy had already left with the other four people, but he barely saw the mother, he wanted to save her and it was at that time when the creek was taken along with her,” said Emilio López, uncle of Yulieth Victoria and who lives a couple of blocks from the place where the tragedy occurred.

Jaime Alexánder Muñoz, a couple of Yulieth Victoria and dad of José Miguel, commented that since 1:55 am on Tuesday the situation was more worrying than usual with the rains, mainly because of the roar of the ravine, which scared it, but it was not possible to imagine that not only was it going to be left without his home, but without his two relatives.

“At that time I got up for the bathroom and I was falling a lot of water, the very ugly roaring ravine. Then I went to bed again and after a while I fell a droplet of the roof. At the moment the water of the ravine began to enter below the door and immediately woke them up to all, my wife, my children and my mother -in -law,” he said.

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But what began as a simple water filtration became a storm that was already covering them to the waist, so the decision was to try to leave as quickly as possible. “Borrasca took us all. first I took my child and then we left my mother -in -law and I. My daughter had to start the current. Then my son came in and when I tried to take them out, the door had already brought her the water and did not let me take them out,” he said.

When they realized, the creek opened a hole for which he took out both Yulieth Victoria and his son and dragged them throughout his current. The first body that floated was that of the woman, which was found next to the El Rodeo club. His finding occurred around 7:00 am on Tuesday.

However, the anguish by José Miguel spread during the subsequent hours, since the ravine dragged his body to the Medellín River.

About José, there were no news until yesterday morning, when in the Carlos Lleras Restrepo hydroelectric, in the Popalito village, Barbosa, his body was found, with notable blows on behalf of the kilometers that was dragged.

The survivors of the emergency registered in this house, in the sector of the company, of the San José del Manzanillo village, are staying in family homes, waiting for a new place to live, since the current destroyed the entire property and the Administrative Department of Risk Management (DAGRD) already declared this at high risk with definitive evacuation.

According to family members, many of them have lacerations and blows in their limbs, due to the effect of the growing.

The mayor of Medellín, Federico Gutiérrez, said that this tragedy was caused by a sliding occurred in the upper part of the tributary, which caused a repressation and finally the avalanche that took this property and affected more than 40, only in this corregimiento and 350 throughout the city.

On Yulieth Victoria, her relatives and relatives remember her as a mother given to her only child and as a laborious person, who had been working in the Sura EPS for 12 years, more recently as an assistant to diagnostic aid service point.

“His goodness, resilience and courage will always be alive in our hearts,” they said from this EPS, in turn sending a hug of condolences to all their relatives after this tragedy.

Currently this woman was working in the house for a health issue that had been afflicting her for several months.

Jaime Alexánder said that “we turned 13 years of marriage and was a great woman, wife and mom. It was a very great support for my daughter. She was also always a very cheerful, very warrior and always delivered woman to God.”

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But in addition to his responsibility to work and his mother’s work, she was also passionate about makeup, so much that she had done some courses and in her spare time she was dedicated to organizing her neighbors, family and friends, when they were going to attend events.

This woman lived all her life in the corregimiento, where much of her relatives also reside, in areas close to the ravine, but who did not see their homes so affected.

At the time of asking for José Miguel, the common denominator among neighbors and relatives was that he was characterized by being an applied young man and a good student, in addition to being passionate about international football and a great national Atlético fan.

“He was a very happy child, he loved football. How many things he wanted to know about football, José told you in great detail. He enjoyed 500% football and was a national fan to die, so much that he enjoyed or cried with the games,” said Alexandra López, a cousin of this young man.

But in addition to his love for football, this eighth grade student of an educational institution in the Fatima neighborhood, commune 16 (Bethlehem), was also part of the group of acolytes of the parish of Our Lady of the Rosary of the stone, in Belén Rincón, said his father.

The bodies of the two victims of this tragedy are veiled since yesterday night in the Cemetery Room of Paz and the funeral honors are scheduled for 10:00 am today in the parish in which José Miguel was acolitus.