3,000 police, 506 firefighters and approximately 800 national and international rescue personnel will participate in an Earthquake Evacuation Drill in Colombia’s capital city, Bogota, on Friday October 9.
According to Colombian media, the drill will begin at 7AM on Friday and will involve a series of emergency simulations that Bogotanos are invited to assist in, in order to learn about relevant procedures as well as escape routes, safety instructions and information about insurance.
Newspaper El Tiempo states that Emergency Response departments in Bogota wish to clarify some rumors about the Drill that have circulated websites such as Facebook recently.
Contrary to rumor, between October 9 and 12 all public services within the city will function as normal, regardless of the Drill. No buildings will be demolished, no aircraft will be incinerated and banks and offices will operate their regular timetables.
There will be no cuts to water, electricity or telephone supplies and no rescue officers will have permission to enter peoples houses during the drill.
The TransMileno buses will run as normal.
El Tiempo informs readers that on Friday, from 11AM, 170,000 people are expected to exit 350 businesses for a simulated evacuation across Bogota and on Saturday practice operations will be rescuing people and animals from accident scenarios and transporting them to Santa Clara Hospital.
El Tiempo states that the Bogota Emergency Services do not want people to ring the 123 emergency number with concerns related to the earthquake drill.