Warning: This article contains images that some readers may find disturbing.

At just 13 years old, Omayra Sánchez Garzón faced certain death after becoming trapped under the roof of her house following a deadly landslide that destroyed her village.

The mudflow was caused by the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Armero, Colombia, on November 13, 1985.

Although the eruption was relatively small, around 10 percent of the glacier at the summit melted, creating a volatile mixture of volcanic lava and ice known as a lahar that flowed into the river valleys below and toward nearby villages.

The storm swept away everything in its path, killing an estimated 25,000 people and destroying 14 surrounding villages.

One of these tragic deaths was that of Omayra, with the young teenager becoming the face of the disaster.

Photojournalist Frank Fournier sat with her to comfort her in her final hours, and it was he who took the picture of her with pitch-black eyes – which was named World Press Photo of the Year in 1986.

Fournier told the BBC: “She was lying in a large puddle and was trapped from the waist down by concrete and other debris from the collapsed buildings.”

Omayra Sánchez Garzón became the face of a disaster in 1985, when she suffered for hours before succumbing to her injuries. (Wikimedia Commons)

“She had been there for nearly three days. It was just dawn and the poor girl was in pain and completely confused.

“There were hundreds of people trapped all around. Rescue workers were struggling to reach them. I could hear people screaming for help and then there was silence – an eerie silence. It was very haunting.”

But that doesn’t explain why Omayra’s eyes were black.

The tragic reason for the inky black color was that her legs were stuck between the concrete and rubble underwater and she was underwater for so long – three days in total.

With eyes so bloodshot they appeared black, pale white hands and a swollen face, she spoke her last words directly into the camera: “Mommy, I love you so much, Daddy, I love you, brother, I love you.”

Rescue attempt for Omayra, who was trapped underwater between concrete and debris after the landslide. (Pool BOUVET/DUCLOS/HIRES/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Omayra died on November 16, 1985.

Fournier added: “When I took the pictures, I felt completely powerless in the face of this little girl who faced death with courage and dignity. She felt that her life was coming to an end.

“I felt that the only thing I could do was to adequately report on the courage, suffering and dignity of the little girl and hope that this would mobilize people to help those who had been rescued.

“I felt like I had to share what this little girl had to go through.”

Without Fournier, the world might never have known about Omayra Sánchez Garzón.