ARMERO, Colombia — Touring the ruins of this once-bustling farm town, veterinarian Fernando Angarita points to the overgrown lots where the bakery, the hospital and the Presbyterian church once stood. Amid the rubble sits a boulder the size of a cargo truck that arrived with the avalanche that buried Armero on Nov. 13 th , 1985.

The deluge was caused by the eruption of snowcapped Nevado del Ruiz volcano 30 miles west of town. Warnings to evacuate arrived too late. The flood of lava, mud and debris killed 25,000 people.

Angarita was climbing a tree to escape when he was caught by the massive mudslide. It carried him nearly four miles out of town before he could crawl to safety. He suffered 16 fractures to his face and jaw and compared the experience to being inside a blender.

Angarita,

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