1700 still missing in Ecuador earthquake
The death toll from Ecuador's earthquake was set to rise sharply after authorities warned that 1700 people were still missing and anger gripped families of victims trapped in the rubble.
Three days after the powerful 7.8-magnitude quake struck Ecuador's Pacific coast in a zone popular with tourists, 480 people are known to have died, the government said.
International rescuers and aid groups rushed to help victims as searchers dug for families trapped in the debris of homes, hotels and businesses.
"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.
Some 4605 people were injured, according to the latest government figures.
In a glimmer of good news as he toured the affected areas, President Rafael Correa said that 54 people had been rescued alive from the rubble.
Still, hope of finding more victims alive was fading fast as the crucial three-day mark was reached late yesterday.
US pledge
Hundreds of emergency workers from Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, Spain and other countries were helping overwhelmed Ecuadorian officials.
Fears rose for thousands of people left homeless by the quake, prey to disease-bearing mosquitoes and dirty drinking water.
UNICEF warned that 150 000 children were affected by the disaster.
It said landslides were complicating rescue efforts in some areas, and some towns were without electricity.
The Spanish Red Cross estimated that up to 100 000 people would need assistance.
In Pedernales, some 180 kilometers north of Manta, a football pitch was serving as a makeshift morgue, medical center and distribution center.
But not everyone was able to get help.
US President Barack Obama called Correa and told him the United States would do "all it can to support Ecuador's recovery," the White House said in a statement.
Ecuador's government said it had access to $600 million in emergency credit overall, but Correa said rebuilding will cost up to $3 billion and could take two or three years.
It was Ecuador's worst quake in nearly 40 years.
(File photo: Getty Images)