Race to reach trapped survivor offers hope in Colombia quake zone

PEREIRA/BOGOTA, Colombia, Aug 14 - Rescuers raced against time in Colombia on Friday to free a man found alive beneath a collapsed hotel, a rare sign of hope nearly four days after one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the Andean nation in decades reduced neighborhoods to rubble and left hundreds dead or missing.

The search for survivors in Colombia is entering a fourth day and growing more desperate by the hour following Monday’s earthquake. It comes as firefighters pulled a trapped dog to safety, offering a glimmer of hope in finding more survivors. NBC’s George Solis reports for TODAY.

Efraín Gallego does not lose faith that his brother will be found alive, although when he speaks about him, trapped beneath the rubble of a building, his voice breaks and he swallows hard until he regains his composure.

The earthquake is Colombia's deadliest since a 6.2-magnitude quake devastated parts of the same western coffee-growing region in January 1999, killing more than 1,000 people.Colombian rescue workers are racing against time to find survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings after a powerful earthquake struck the coun