New York City will send relief missions to earthquake-ravaged El Salvador to help survivors left hungry and homeless by massive mudslides that have claimed hundreds of lives.
“We’re trying to see what kind of aid would be” helpful, Mayor Giuliani said yesterday.
“We are trying to organize as much help and assistance [as possible] and we’re trying to find out what would be the things that they mostly need,” he said.
Two relief missions are already scheduled to go to El Salvador in the coming days, the mayor said.
Emergency aid from around the world has been pouring into El Salvador after Saturday’s 7.6-magnitude killer quake. The death toll yesterday hit 672, with more than 2,500 injured and tens of thousands homeless.
In Comasagua, 17 miles west of the capital San Salvador, hungry people rushed to meet U.S. Army helicopters flying in food, water and medicine.
“All we have is God and the helicopter that brings food,” said Fidelia Guardao.
Officials believe there is little hope of finding people still alive under the mudslides.
But volunteers continued scouring partially excavated areas with dogs sniffing for any sign of life. Other rescuers were equipped with special heartbeat-detecting equipment.
In Santa Tecla, a suburb near the capital that was one of the hardest-hit areas, rescue workers pulled one buried victim alive from the rubble: a German shepherd mix named Bobby.
The dog’s owner, who lost his mother and brother in the quake, said, “I didn’t think I’d find him alive, but there he was.”
Grieving Salvadorans looked through black body bags hoping to find loved ones to give them a private burial.
“Reality is setting in. It’s been days now, and the best I can hope for is that some body parts turn up,” said Franklin Menjivar, who has lost his brother and niece but was searching for his two nephews.