272 killed in powerful Ecuador quake, figure likely to rise

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has warned that the death toll from a powerful earthquake which has killed 272 people is likely to rise, BBC News reports.

There were desperate scenes as rescuers and family members searched for survivors, often with bare hands.

Correa said there was evidence that people were still alive under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

More than 2,000 were injured in the quake, Ecuador's most powerful in decades.

President Correa visited some of the people affected by the disaster after cutting short a visit to Italy.

The magnitude-7.8 quake struck on Saturday, April 16 evening. Coastal areas in the north-west were closest to the epicentre.

A state of emergency has been declared and some 10,000 troops and 3,500 police have been deployed in the affected areas.

In Pedernales, close to the epicentre, as many as 400 people are feared dead. Mayor Gabriel Alcivar said the "entire town" had been flattened.