Dramatic rescue gives Ecuadoreans hope for survivors

Associated Press

MANTA, Ecuador

Rescuers pulled three people out alive Monday after they had been trapped for more than 32 hours in the rubble of a shopping center that was flattened by this weekend’s powerful earthquake on Ecuador’s coast.

Televised images of the dramatic pre-dawn rescue in the port city of Manta gave Ecuadoreans hope that some of the dozens of people still unaccounted for might yet be found even as the death toll from Saturday’s magnitude-7.8 quake rose to 413. An American and two Canadians were among those confirmed dead from the worst quake to hit Ecuador in decades.

To reach the survivors trapped between the floor and roof of the collapsed shopping center in Manta, firefighters cut a nearly 21/2-foot hole through concrete then pulled a woman out head first. A group of firefighters applauded as she emerged from the debris, disoriented, caked in dust and complaining of pain but otherwise in good health.

Later, at the same site, about 50 rescuers working with sniffer dogs, hydraulic jacks and a drill managed to free another woman and a young man. All three were rushed in ambulances to a nearby hospital. In total, eight people were rescued from the site in the past 24 hours, said Angel Moreiera, the firefighter coordinating the effort.

Christian Rivera, the head of emergency services for the capital, Quito, said that depending on the circumstances a person without serious injuries can survive up to a week under the rubble.

“After that, there’s a quick decline ... and the rescuers’ work becomes very difficult,” he said.

Still, there are good reasons to believe more people will be found alive in the coming hours as some 450 rescue workers from Spain, Peru, Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela, and elsewhere reached the most-affected areas along the Pacific coast. The U.S. has also offered assistance but so far President Rafael Correa, a strong critic of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, has yet to respond publicly.