In the story, And of Clay Are We Created by Isabelle Allende, why does Rolf stop reporting and put his camera down?

Rolf stopped reporting and put down his camera in order to try and save Azucena.

".... then she pulled a hand from the mire and tried to move, but immediately sank a little deeper. Rolf threw down his knapsack and the rest of his equipment and waded into the quagmire, commenting for his assistant’s microphone that it was cold and that one could begin to smell the stench of corpses."