Tags
Some 1,700 people are still missing three days after a big earthquake struck Ecuador, an official said on Tuesday, raising fears that a death toll currently put at 480 could dramatically rise.
"We have 2,000 people listed that are being looked for, but we have so far found 300," Deputy Interior Minister Diego Fuentes told reporters in the capital Quito.
"Right now we have 480 people who were killed and approximately 2,560 people who were injured," he said.
It was the first figure for people missing that officials have given since the 7.8-magnitude quake hit Ecuador's Pacific coast on Saturday, bringing homes and hotels in the popular tourist area crashing to earth.
Rescue workers have been scrambling since immediately after the quake to find survivors, and some have been pulled from the debris.
But time is running out, and hope is fading rapidly of finding more people alive in the rubble, despite emergency teams from Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador and other countries helping overwhelmed Ecuadorian officials.
Sniffer dogs and mechanical diggers were still busy at work in the wreckage of coastal towns such as Pedernales and Manta as the stench of rotting bodies filled the air.
There are no comments.
SPORT Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
TECHNOLOGY Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
CULTURE Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
ARABIA The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
ARABIA Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
ARABIA The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
ECONOMY Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.
