Colombia’s ‘lost children’ remain open wound 40 years after deadly volcanic eruption

Relatives of children who went missing during the Armero tragedy, triggered by the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, and which left about 25,000 people dead 40 years ago, carry rafts with photos of the disappeared children on them, during a commemoration ceremony on the banks of the Guali River, in Honda, Colombia, November 12, 2025. REUTERS/Camilo Cohecha

BOGOTA (Reuters) -Maria Gladys Primo cannot hold back tears as she recalls the night of November 13, 1985, when she last saw her two young children, before a landslide of mud, rocks and trees triggered by the eruption of Colombia’s Nevado del Ruiz volcano swept away her home.

Primo spent two days trapped in debris before a helicopter rescued her. Her husband was buried and never recovered.