300 Students Escape Unharmed as Building Collapses on Adventist School Grounds
Leaders learn of a miraculous story of survival after Colombia’s August 10 earthquake.
August 24, 2026 | Bogota, Colombia | Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review
It couldn’t resist.
On August 10 a multistory building overshadowing the open court of Corporación Educativa Adventista in Cali, Colombia, shook uncontrollably during seconds that seemed an eternity. Then, after a moment of silence, the whole building collapsed, covering the whole open area of the school.
Parents who had just dropped off their children heard the explosive sound of the building collapsing and turned back, desperate to find them. In a video recording, parents can be heard crying out, “My son! My son!” and “My children!”
A building adjacent to the Corporación Educativa Adventista in Cali, Colombia, fell on the open court of the school during the August 10 earthquake. [Photo: Pacific Colombian Conference]
Soon rumors spread that as many as 300 students were buried beneath the rubble of the Adventist school. Given the magnitude of the collapse, many feared that few, if any, had survived.
A Sobering but Thankful Report
On August 17, just one week after the earthquake, Yeison Andrade, president of the Pacific Colombian Conference, shared a report with leaders of the South Colombian Union and visitors from Maranatha Volunteers International, a lay-led ministry that supports the construction of Adventist churches, schools, and water wells around the world. The purpose of the Maranatha trip, which was planned well before the earthquake, was to conduct a feasibility study as part of the potential launch of several building projects across the country.
During his report Andrade shared photos and testimonies of what he called “the miraculous circumstances” by which, against all odds, the life of every student and teacher at the Adventist school was preserved. Andrade, who arrived at the school just minutes after the earthquake, also reported on how, despite the tragedy, the site soon became a center for feeding rescue teams and other volunteers.
Facade of Corporación Educativa Adventista in Cali, Colombia. [Photo: Pacific Colombian Conference]
An Unbelievable Set of Circumstances
The “coincidences” that allowed for teachers and students to survive the building collapse on the school open areas are too many and too marvelous, Andrade said.
First, the earthquake took place after the school entrance bell made students leave the open court to go to chapel. “They were listening to the daily devotional when the earthquake struck,” Andrade said. “If the building had collapsed just a few minutes before, the story would have been different.”
The fact that students were listening to the devotional was no coincidence either. School chaplain Deiby Bustamante explained that the morning devotional used to take place every morning at 6:30. “But some parents were late, so we decided to move the daily devotional to 7:30 so no one could miss it,” he shared. “Otherwise, the students could have been outside, at recess.”
Second, Andrade explained that the school had an evacuation protocol for disasters like this. School principal Carolina Gómez shared how as soon as she felt the first tremors, she ran to the hall and gave the evacuation order. Bustamante saw her and joined the evacuation efforts. “I was worried about my son, a kindergarten student,” he shared. “But I was also worried about the rest of the kids. And I had full confidence in our team.”
Yeison Andrade, president of the Pacific Colombian Conference, shares a report with leaders of the South Colombian Union and visitors from Maranatha Volunteers International in Bogotá, Colombia, August 17. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]
But not everything happened according to plan. “The evacuation protocol stipulated that students must leave their classrooms and gather at the open court, precisely where the building fell,” Andrade explained. “That would have been deadly.”
Something happened, however, with the first-year and sixth-year classes, the two closest to the open area. The sixth-year class ran to the open area, but as the earth was shaking badly there, they ran to the school building to hold on to the wall with their backs to the open court, Gómez shared. It was then that they felt the building fall, and they were engulfed in dust and smoke. “We just stood there, praying that God would help us to breathe and move away from the area as soon as possible,” she said.
The first graders, meanwhile, were ready to leave their classroom for the open area within seconds. But one student was still in the bathroom. Their teacher made a quick decision. “We’ll wait for the missing student. We will leave all together,” she told the class. That decision, too, proved lifesaving.
Rescue teams and volunteers work on and around the ruins of the collapsed building adjacent to Corporación Educativa Adventista in Cali, Colombia. [Photo: Pacific Colombian Conference]
Gómez shared how the school personnel eventually had the pleasure of handing every single student to their parents, unharmed. And it was not an idle wait as the concerned parents arrived to pick up their children, Bustamante said. “I told them to form a circle to pray. And we reminded them of God’s promises,” he shared. “We ended up embracing in a big hug, as we told them, ‘You are not alone! The King of kings is with us!’ ”
More Miraculous Circumstances
According to Andrade, another factor may have helped save lives: the building did not collapse entirely onto the open area. Instead, the ground beneath the weight of the concrete gave way, causing part of the structure to sink before turning slightly and falling. “Part of the building went down into the earth before turning a few degrees on itself and falling down,” Andrade explained. As a result, only part of the building fell onto the open area, which helped save the sixth-grade students standing outside.
Yet another miracle, in Andrade’s words, was what happened to the school cafeteria and kitchen section. “Part of the collapsed building fell on that area of the school at a time when school cooks were working,” Andrade shared. “But when we ran to find out what had happened, we saw the school cooks walking out, covered by dust but unharmed.”
The building collapsed completely on August 10, falling on the open court of the Corporación Educativa Adventista, a church school in Cali, Colombia. [Photo: Pacific Colombian Conference]
A Helping Hand
Just a few hours after the earthquake, church members from several congregations around the city got together to support rescue efforts and serve the community in its hour of need. “We helped feed members of the rescue teams arriving from Mexico and Israel,” Andrade shared.
Andrade added that spaces inside the school turned into a place for members of the armed forces to rest during the rescue efforts in the area. “Right now we have about 40 soldiers lodged there,” he reported on August 17.
Church members arrived with groceries and other supplies for those affected in the area. The school soon transformed into a warehouse and distribution center, Andrade reported. “It became a remarkable movement where we could also see our neighbors’ solidarity as well,” he said. “Thus, the school became a center of influence that helped the Adventist Church get an outstanding reputation.”