France is sending “in the coming hours” to Ecuador a detachment of 30 soldiers of the Civil Security which specialize in treating water and to assist victims of the earthquake that hit the country on Saturday the Minister of Interior
These 30 soldiers based in Nogent -le-Rotrou ( Eure-et-Loir ), will join three officers already there. Their mission “is to produce, analyze and distribute drinking water to people affected by the earthquake” which killed at least 570 deaths, the minister added in a statement. They carry 16 tons of equipment with them. “The Ecuadorian authorities have accepted aid that France offered them through the European Civil Protection Mechanism,” adds Bernard Cazeneuve .
On Thursday, the last formal review reported 570 dead from the earthquake that shook Equador. There are also 5733 injured and the number of missing was sharply revised down, from the original figure of 1700 to 163.
Tourism fears for its future
The earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8, the worst in Latin America since that of Haiti in 2010, devastated the Pacific coast, including the tourist areas of Ecuador. “This is very serious, a major coastal activities, the local and international tourism. In Manabi provinces (west epicenter) and Esmeraldas (northwest, also affected), we find the largest concentration of hotels, “said José Ochoa , president of the Hotel Federation of Ecuador. “More than 40 hotels are destroyed, but many others were affected in the structure level,” he added. “What worries us is the following. How to rebuild and how to ensure that people can keep their jobs and that this does not turn into a social crisis? “, Will he demand. Shortly before the powerful earthquake, the country had launched a major campaign to tourism promotion.
