Chile mourns quake dead
2010-03-07 21:32
Santiago - Flags were lowered across Chile on Sunday, marking the start of three days of mourning for the hundreds who died in last week's powerful earthquake and tsunami.
Aid has poured in from across the world - from Bolivian bottled water to Chinese tents, Russian water cleaners or French seismic equipment - in a response reflecting the scale of the 8.8-quake on February 27, which, along with subsequent tsunami waves, affected one in eight Chileans.
But, with severed bridges, fractured freeways and villages washed off the map, the nation proud to be a model of Latin American stability still struggled to deliver relief to some two million hungry and homeless survivors.
Officials have almost halved an initial death toll, from 802 to 452, after finding that missing people had been listed as dead in several parts of Chile.
With half a million homes destroyed, sanitary conditions for many still living on the streets was a growing concern.
"We have cases of gastroenteritis, respiratory problems, and we've had heart problems due to fears caused by recent aftershocks," Carlos Barra, a health centre doctor in the badly-hit coastal city of Concepción, told AFP.
Residents have organised sometimes violent protests against the slow trickle of aid, blocking traffic with burning tires and setting shopping centres alight.
Nobody stops to help
In another town, Talca, a group of elderly people in their 70s and 80s slept on the street as they kept watch over the smashed remains of their homes.
"We see army trucks, police vans and municipal officials drive by on the main road, but no one has stopped to see how we are," said 80-year-old Maria Fresia Hil Castro.
The stranded senior citizens said they were struggling to search for food, erecting a roof in case of rain, picking at the rubble for lost cash hidden in mattresses and crossing a rubble-strewn yard to reach an improvised toilet behind a tree.
Across the devastated central southern region, handwritten signs reading "We need food, water, medicine" hung on gates and fences.
Elsewhere, aid gradually reached quake survivors.
The government began a vaccination campaign against hepatitis and tetanus in the seaside resort of Constitucion amid fears of viral infections amid the poor sanitary conditions.
Power had been restored to two thirds of the town's 50 000 residents after a week in the dark, although only a third had access to running water, city officials said.
Curfew eased
In a sign of improving security, authorities shortened a curfew in Concepción from 18 to 13 hours on Saturday, and reduced curfews in Arauca, Nuble and Bio Bio provinces.
Looting grew widespread in the early days after the quake and police recovered thousands of goods, from plasma television sets to washing machines and items of furniture, helped by tip-offs from local residents.
After initial criticism of Chile's slow reaction to the disaster, officials have struggled to respond to the scale of the damage.
The Chilean Navy on Friday sacked the head of the agency in charge of issuing disaster warnings in recognition of its failings.
Outgoing President Michelle Bachelet deployed 14 000 troops in the wake of the catastrophe, a move unprecedented since the 17-year military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet that ended in 1990.
Aftershocks have also complicated the rescue efforts, with a 6.8-magnitude tremor on Friday among the strongest of more than 200 to rattle the nation in the quake's aftermath.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon vowed to help recover efforts after touring disaster areas on Saturday.
"Words fail to describe my feelings after what I have seen," he told survivors, vowing to report his findings to the UN General Assembly and discuss how best to help with reconstruction.
Ban already pledged $10m in immediate help from the United Nations and helped launch a 24-hour celebrity-packed telethon to raise money for disaster victims.
That raised $57m for disaster victims - twice more than its fundraising goal and enough to build 60 000 basic homes.