Death toll in Ecuador rises: 272 people killed in earthquake, rescuers search for survivors with bare hands

Rescuers continued a race against time in an attempt to find survivors under the rubble in Ecuador, after a powerful earthquake that killed 272 people, reports the Patria news agency.

"The death toll will certainly rise, and probably significantly," warned Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, announcing new preliminary figures.

"These are difficult moments, this is the greatest tragedy in the last 67 years, surpassed only by the 1949 earthquake in Ambato, in the central part of the country," he added.

According to the head of state, the number of injured now stands at 2,068, a decrease from the figure of 2,557 previously announced by Vice President Jorge Glas. During a visit to the Vatican, Rafael Correa, who unlocked emergency budget aid of "around 600 million dollars," flew to Manta overnight.

In that area of the Ecuadorian coast, survivors searched for the missing under the rubble with their bare hands, before spending a second night outdoors, out of fear of aftershocks or to guard the few belongings they managed to save.

In Portoviejo, in the west of the country, one of the hardest-hit cities, collapsed houses, a devastated market, streetlights on the ground, and debris scattered across the sidewalks bore witness to the 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

"We have already pulled out three bodies and we think there are another 10 or 11 that are trapped," said a member of the rescue team at the rubble of the El Gato hotel, a six-story building that completely collapsed, reports Index.