A baby has been safely rescued from rubble after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake devastated Colombia.

The six-month-old boy was found by a banker on his way home from work when he came across a collapsed five-storey building in Cali.

Brian Osorio Zuluaga began searching the rubble for survivors when he heard a voice whisper: “Yes, I’m here. I’m with a baby.”

A man was seen under a concrete slab, holding the baby, and Mr Osorio Zuluaga called for help.

Rescuers moved the debris with their bare hands and video footage showed the dust-covered baby being lifted out from the ruins by the group.

He was then taken to an ambulance for treatment. The man holding the baby was also brought out from the rubble. It is not clear whether he was the baby’s father.

At least 224 people have died and more than 2,595 have been injured since the quake struck the Choco region on Monday morning.

On Tuesday, Abelardo de la Espriella, the Colombian president, said at least 195 people remained missing, but civilian-run databases put the number closer to 4,000.

The epicentre of the tremor, which was followed by two 2.8-magnitude and 4.8-magnitude aftershocks, was in the western Choco region, but the impact was felt as far away as Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador.

Speaking about the ruins where the baby was found, Mr Osorio Zuluaga told CNN: “It was a large complex, covering an entire block.

“You could see the baby’s little head there – which, at the time, looked sort of purplish because he couldn’t breathe. Once we started removing the rubble, the baby began to… breathe, and his colour started to come back.”

Rescue teams continued to search through the rubble overnight in the hardest-hit cities of Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdo, as time ticked away for people to be found alive.

Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours crucial for retrieving survivors.

In Calima, a municipality north of Cali, four children died after a section of a school collapsed.

Antonio Cadavid, the mayor of the municipality, said at least 30 other children were also injured in the damage to the Gimnasio Calima school.

To reduce the risk of looting following the incident, he also ordered a curfew lasting until 6am local time (1pm UK time).

Colombia’s government declared the incident a national disaster after an emergency meeting with Mr de la Espriella, who said he would visit the area.

The US has offered more than $15m (£11m) in aid to the country, with Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, promising to send supplies and aid workers.

Nayib Bukele, the Salvadoran president, said his country would send two planes loaded with aid in the coming days.

The King has paid tribute to the “resilience and strength” of the Colombian people in a statement, adding that he was “deeply saddened” to hear of the earthquake.