At 233 dead from the earthquake in Ecuador
Amounting to 233 dead from the powerful earthquake that hit Ecuador, announced the country's president Rafael Correa, at the same time that rescuers are still trying to locate and retrieve survivors from the rubble.
"The official death toll stands at 233," he said via Twitter the president. The previous review spoke of 77 dead and about 600 wounded.
In Portoviecho, one of the cities most affected by the vibration of 7.8 degrees, the flattened houses, the ruined market and debris everywhere on the streets testify to the violence of the earthquake, the worst it has been in the country since 1979.
"It was horrible, it was the first time I felt such a quake. I had the impression that lasted half minutes," he told AFP a resident 57chroni the Bibi Macon. "I was thinking that my house will collapse," continued the woman suffered shock.
"We went quickly down the road and saw the covered market to collapse," recounted the 73choni Nellie residing in Abd Calderon, a community near Portoviecho. Weeping, the elderly said that "there was a trapped screaming help but then stopped shouting."
"The houses were demolished, objects falling, people are desperate, are trapped," said another woman, 40-year Miriam Santana from Manta, in western Ecuador.
In Guayaquil, which collapsed a bridge and a shopping center, distraught passengers were leaving the airport. "Dropped the lights from the ceiling and people were running scared," said one eyewitness.
The country has declared a state of emergency. "We are facing an enormous tragedy," the president said Korea earlier who visits the Vatican and is expected to return tonight in Quito.
The head of European diplomacy Federica Mogkerini also announced that the European Civil Protection Mechanism was activated in order to provide assistance in Ecuador.
More than 14,000 men and women of the security forces, 241 doctors and nurses and two mobile hospital units have been mobilized to care for victims. Aid also expected to arrive from Colombia and Mexico.
Amounting to 233 dead from the powerful earthquake that hit Ecuador, announced the country's president Rafael Correa, at the same time that rescuers are still trying to locate and retrieve survivors from the rubble.
"The official death toll stands at 233," he said via Twitter the president. The previous review spoke of 77 dead and about 600 wounded.
In Portoviecho, one of the cities most affected by the vibration of 7.8 degrees, the flattened houses, the ruined market and debris everywhere on the streets testify to the violence of the earthquake, the worst it has been in the country since 1979.
"It was horrible, it was the first time I felt such a quake. I had the impression that lasted half minutes," he told AFP a resident 57chroni the Bibi Macon. "I was thinking that my house will collapse," continued the woman suffered shock.
"We went quickly down the road and saw the covered market to collapse," recounted the 73choni Nellie residing in Abd Calderon, a community near Portoviecho. Weeping, the elderly said that "there was a trapped screaming help but then stopped shouting."
"The houses were demolished, objects falling, people are desperate, are trapped," said another woman, 40-year Miriam Santana from Manta, in western Ecuador.
In Guayaquil, which collapsed a bridge and a shopping center, distraught passengers were leaving the airport. "Dropped the lights from the ceiling and people were running scared," said one eyewitness.
The country has declared a state of emergency. "We are facing an enormous tragedy," the president said Korea earlier who visits the Vatican and is expected to return tonight in Quito.
The head of European diplomacy Federica Mogkerini also announced that the European Civil Protection Mechanism was activated in order to provide assistance in Ecuador.
More than 14,000 men and women of the security forces, 241 doctors and nurses and two mobile hospital units have been mobilized to care for victims. Aid also expected to arrive from Colombia and Mexico.
