Victim identification

Colombia earthquake: 277 bodies received, 270 victims identified

Updated August 15, 2026 at 9:52 a.m. Colombia time

Official Communiqué 10 from Colombia’s National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences raises the number of bodies received from Chocó, Caldas, Risaralda and Valle del Cauca to 277 as of 8:00 p.m. on August 14. At that cutoff, 270 victims, including 20 minors, had been identified and 254 bodies handed to their families.

Twenty-two more bodies received and twenty-eight more identifications

The previous record, with a 6:50 p.m. August 11 cutoff, counted 180 bodies received and 93 victims identified. Twelve hours and ten minutes later, the figures reached 202 and 121: respective increases of 22 and 28 between the two updates.

The institute says handover of bodies is coordinated with the Fiscalía and municipal offices. The communiqué does not publish how many handovers had already taken place.

Fifteen more bodies received and fifty more identifications

The previous record, with a 1:30 p.m. cutoff, counted 165 bodies received and 43 victims identified. Five hours and twenty minutes later, the figures reached 180 and 93: increases of 15 bodies received and 50 identifications between the two records.

The communiqué has a 6:50 p.m. cutoff and the institute’s official account published it at 7:55 p.m. The record therefore describes conditions established at 6:50 p.m., independently of its publication time.

A breakdown across four departments

Of the 93 identified victims, 69 are recorded in Risaralda: 68 in Pereira and one in Belén de Umbría. Chocó accounts for 11 identifications, all in Quibdó.

Valle del Cauca accounts for nine — four in Buenaventura, two in Buga and three in Cali — while Caldas accounts for four, recorded in Manizales. This breakdown describes the forensic units listed in the communiqué, not a final distribution of all earthquake victims.

A forensic record separate from other tolls

The 180 bodies received do not constitute a new final national death toll. The figure covers four departments and does not establish that every earthquake victim has already been transferred to the forensic institute.

It remains separate from the earlier presidential national toll of 181 deaths, 2,595 injured and 195 missing, and from the Reuters aggregate of 254 deaths based on local reports. Their scopes, methods and cutoff times differ; the figures must neither be added together nor substituted for one another. The 87 unidentified bodies in the forensic record do not automatically correspond to the 195 people reported missing.

Handover to families requires coordination

The forensic institute says the handover of bodies will be coordinated with the Fiscalía General de la Nación, the relevant municipal authorities and the families. The communiqué does not state how many handovers had taken place by 6:50 p.m.

The institute says identification work is continuing with technical rigour, respect for human dignity and support for families. This step establishes identities before funeral and administrative procedures without exposing more personal information than necessary.

What the next records need to clarify

Future releases will need to state how the number of bodies received, completed identifications and their territorial distribution evolve, while retaining a precise cutoff time. They should also clarify progress in coordination with families.

This communiqué provides no new figures for injured or missing people and no update on water, electricity, telecommunications, roads or airports. It therefore cannot establish their current status.

Communiqué 10 details identifications and handovers

The new forensic update lists 277 bodies received, 270 identifications — including 20 minors — and 254 handovers to families. It became available at 7:44:07 a.m. on August 15 but retains an 8:00 p.m. August 14 cutoff.

Communiqué 08, with a 7:00 p.m. cutoff on August 13, listed 260 bodies received, 246 identifications — including 17 minors — and 222 handovers. These successive records remain distinct from UNGRD’s national toll.

Update history

Updated August 12, 2026 at 9:32 a.m. Colombia time

Retrospective addition to the 7:00 a.m. slot from Medicina Legal’s Official Communiqué 04: 202 bodies received in four departments and 121 victims identified, including five minors. The previous record of 180 bodies and 93 identifications at 6:50 p.m. on August 11 is retained. No new media is added.

Updated on August 15, 2026 at 9:52 a.m., Colombia time

Retrospective addition in the 8:00 p.m. August 14 slot of Official Communiqué 10: 277 bodies received across four departments, 270 victims identified including 20 minors, and 254 bodies handed to families. The title, summary and introduction were updated; no media was added.