MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Correa said as cited by ABC news on Wednesday that 526 of the 570 victims have been identified. Over 7,000 were injured by the quake, while 163 people remain unaccounted for, according to the president.
A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador on April 16. Correa said earlier this week that the damage caused by the natural disaster would cost as much as $3 billion.
On Wednesday, Ecuador’s president said as cited by ABC news that he planned to increase taxes and sell some state assets to raise funds to cover the costs of recovery efforts.
In the early hours of Thursday, a Russian Emergencies Ministry plane with 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid left for Ecuador from the Ramenskoye airfield near Moscow. The aid includes food, tents and mobile power stations.
