Featured Image Credit: Frank Fournier
Topics: World News, News
Joe Harker
The photographer who took a harrowing image of a young girl who died after her home was destroyed by a natural disaster explained why he didn't try to save her.
The volcanic eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz in 1985 triggered significant landslides and mudflows that caused destruction in the Colombian town of Armero and the surrounding area.
Thousands of people died, among them a 13-year-old girl named Omayra Sánchez Garzón, who became the face of the disaster after photographer Frank Fournier took a picture of her trapped with only her head and hands above water.
The image of the teenager staring back at the camera with eyes so bloodshot they appeared to be black left a haunting impression on those who saw it.
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Mudflows and landslides from the volcanic eruption destroyed Omayra's home, leaving her trapped up to her neck in water for three days.
Pinned in place by the volcanic mud and debris, she could not get out of the water.
Reporters who went with the rescue efforts spoke to her and she gave interviews on the disaster, while she was provided with food and drink to keep her going.
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At times during her ordeal she was scared and cried, while near the end of her time in the water, she started hallucinating and said she didn't want to be late for school.
Rescue efforts determined that they would not be able to free her from the water and she was going to die, which she did roughly 60 hours after the volcanic eruption destroyed her home.
She is thought to have died of either hypothermia or gangrene.
Stuck in the water with nowhere to go, photographer Fournier said that Omayra had been 'facing death with courage and dignity' when she spoke her final words.
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She said: "Mommy, I love you so much, daddy I love you, brother I love you."
Rescuers had managed to get a tyre around her to keep her afloat, but they couldn't get her out of the water.
After her death it was found that her legs were pinned beneath debris from the roof of her house and that the arms of her aunt's body were still holding onto her.
Lacking equipment to clear the debris and judging that they couldn't save her life if they amputated her legs, Omayra died in the water.
The simple answer is because he, and everyone else trying to help Omayra, couldn't.
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Speaking to the BBC, Fournier addressed the question that everyone kept asking him after they saw the picture as people always wanted to know: "Why didn't you help her? Why didn't you get her out?"
He explained that it was 'impossible' to get her out of there and said that people wondered whether he should have taken pictures, but he defended his decision.
He said: "There was an outcry - debates on television on the nature of the photojournalist, how much he or she is a vulture. But I felt the story was important for me to report and I was happier that there was some reaction; it would have been worse if people had not cared about it.
"I am very clear about what I do and how I do it, and I try to do my job with as much honesty and integrity as possible. I believe the photo helped raise money from around the world in aid and helped highlight the irresponsibility and lack of courage of the country's leaders.
"There was an obvious lack of leadership. There were no evacuation plans, yet scientists had foreseen the catastrophic extent of the volcano's eruption.
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"People still find the picture disturbing. This highlights the lasting power of this little girl. I was lucky that I could act as a bridge to link people with her. It's the magic of the thing."