Pray for the People of Coracora

I just learned that a suspension walking bridge in Coracora fell at a time when there were 40-50 school children and teachers walking on it Monday after school let out. Please pray for the people of Coracora. This Thursday Pastor Bobby (from Poplar Grove BC in Cookeville) and Greg Hodge (member of PGBC) are leaving for Peru. They will arrive in Coracora on Saturday morning. Please pray for them to have the right words to speak to those who have lost family members. Also, the Enhancement Team (college students serving a year in the Andes mountains with the IMB) is currently in Coracora for the month of April, so they are already ministering to people. Please pray that God will use this tragedy to draw people into a saving relationship with himself. Pray for Yulber to jump in a be ready to speak up as well.

Below is a picture of the bridge, which our team crossed several times, and the article from Reuters.





















Peru bridge collapse kills 8, injures 40 children
Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:32pm EDT

LIMA (Reuters) - A suspension bridge packed with school children snapped in Peru on Monday, killing at least 8 and injuring dozens of others who plunged into a deep ravine, the mayor of the Andean mountain town of Coracora said.

"We've suffered a grave accident, a suspension bridge that goes to a high school has fallen, it has broken in two, and we have a large number of students injured and dead," Mayor Walter Antayhua told RPP radio.

Most of the injured were aged 10 and 13, but reports said several teachers were with the children when the bridge collapsed.

The bridge was 130 feet long and stretched above a canyon that is up to 320 feet deep, the mayor said. The town is about 370 miles southeast of Lima, the capital.

"We need a helicopter because there are children who are dying," Alfonso Paredes, a town resident, said from the poorly equipped hospital from where doctors were hoping to evacuate patients to trauma centers.

At least 40 other victims were taken to the hospital, 13 of them with serious injuries.

"The injuries are grave," said Fernando Valencia, a doctor at the hospital.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Terry Wade; Editing by Sandra Maler)