History of Armero

class="apple-converted-space"> Nevado del Ruiz Volcano produced lahars that destroyed the town and killed about 23,000 people. Approximately 31,000 people lived in the area at the time. The incident became known as the Armero tragedy. While the destruction of the town made world news in its own right, the best known victim was Omayra Sánchez, a young girl who died after being trapped by water and concrete up to her neck for three days. After this event, the town of Guayabal was assigned as the seat of the municipality of Armero, rendering Armero a ghost town.

The survivors were relocated to the towns of Guayabal and Lérida where they received housing and money, though little was done in aiding the survivors in reconstructing their lives.

In the area where the city was located, survivors created an extensive cemetery. Where each one had a house, they constructed a tomb with an epitaph. In this way, they constructed a new symbolic city called The Camposanto. Francisco González explains in his book,