Hope fades for Ecuador survivors
Print Edition
RESCUERS in Ecuador were losing hope of finding more survivors yesterday from an earthquake which killed more than 400 people and dealt a shattering blow to the South American OPEC nation’s already fragile economy.
Praying for miracles, distraught family members beseeched rescue teams to find missing loved ones as they used dogs, bare hands and excavators to hunt through debris of flattened homes, hotels, and stores in the hardest-hit Pacific coastal region.
The death toll stood at 443 but was expected to rise. The 7.8 magnitude quake, which struck late on Saturday, also injured at least 2,600 people.
Supervising rescue work in the disaster zone, Ecuador’s leftist President Rafael Correa said the quake inflicted between US$2 billion and US$3 billion of damage to the oil-dependent economy and could knock between 2 and 3 percentage points off growth.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, it will be a long struggle ... Reconstruction for years, billions (of dollars) in investment,” said a deeply moved Correa.
Growth in Ecuador’s small economy had already been forecast near zero this year due to plunging oil revenues.
The quake destroyed or damaged more than 1,500 buildings, triggered mudslides and left 18,000 people sleeping in shelters, according to the government.
In Pedernales, a devastated rustic beach town, crowds gathered behind yellow tape to watch firemen and police sift through rubble overnight. The town’s soccer stadium served as a makeshift relief center and morgue.
“Find my brother! Please!” shouted Manuel, 17, throwing his arms to the sky in front of a corner store where his younger brother had been working when the quake struck.
But for Manuel and hundreds of other anxious Ecuadoreans missing their relatives, time was running out.
As of yesterday, rescue efforts would become more of a search for corpses, Interior Minister Jose Serrano said.
In many isolated villages or towns, survivors struggled without water, power or transport.
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