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Costa Rica quake toll rises to 20; 17 still missing
San Jose (AFP) Jan 14, 2009 The death toll from Thursday's devastating 6.1-magnitude earthquake has risen to 20, with "around 17 people missing" around the country, the National Emergency Board (CNE) said here. Rescue workers found three more bodies on Tuesday, said Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ) director Francisco Segura. Local media said five Britons and two Canadians were among the dead following the quake, the country's worst in 150 years. The quake's epicenter was near the Poas volcano tourist area, located some 30 kilometers (20 miles) northwest of the capital San Jose. The Costa Rican Red Cross put the number of people missing at "60 to 70," far higher than CNE's estimate of 17 missing. "There are places where we know there are corpses, but we have not pulled them out of the rubble and handed them to the OIJ. They will not be counted as dead," Costa Rican Red Cross national director Guillermo Arroyo told AFP. Due to the contradictory reports, the CNE called on the media to follow the official toll. "I ask that you please not base yourself on these data," CNE spokeswoman Rebeca Madrigal told AFP. The OIJ is the only agency authorized to publish these "official" tolls, as it "works on the basis of information provided by families," Madrigal added. Another 2,478 people evacuated during the quake were being housed in 21 shelters, the emergency board said. At leaset 218 houses were destroyed or damaged, the board said, cautioning that surveyors had yet to reach several towns and villages around the Poas volcano. On Tuesday, San Jose made an appeal to the Geneva-based United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for international aid to "address the tragedy caused by the devastating earthquake," the ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement. Related Links Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters When the Earth Quakes A world of storm and tempest
Death toll up to 18 after Costa Rica quake, dozens still missing
San Jose (AFP) Jan 10, 2009The death toll from Costa Rica's strongest earthquake in decades rose to 18 Saturday, with scores missing and injured, while some 150 stranded tourists were finally rescued, officials said. |
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