Peru Rescue Efforts Underway

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News Peru Earthquake August 16th 2007

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   UPDATE: Widespread looting now reported in Peru

    Vowing that humanitarian mistakes of the past would not be repeated Peruvian President visited the wreckage caused by the massive 8.0 earthquake that hit Peru yesterday. "Nobody is going to die of thirst or hunger. That I can guarantee." said Garcia, in a public display to assure the Peruvian people that his government was taking every measure possible to assist in the crisis. Meanwhile rescue teams worked through the night searching for survivors and treating the injured. Reports from rural areas trickled in suggesting that the current 510 may soon be rising as the rubble of ruined homes is sifted through. More than 1000 people have been reported injured from the quake and today’s 5.9 aftershock with teams of volunteers joining rescue crews in the race against time to locate survivors. Across the country long lines of survivors gathered in cities to collect food and water being distributed at checkpoints. Many of them, mostly poor, with homes destroyed are setting up makeshift housing in city streets.

    Officials at the European Union, today, pledged over 1mil in euros in a support package to Peru, and was followed the U.S., Venezuela, Taiwan, Japan, a handful of Latin American countries, and several private organizations including the Salvation Army and the United Methodist Committee on Relief. In a statement of support President Bush offered his condolences for the losses and opened up immediate funds for relief, pledging the possibility of more to come if it were needed.
   
    In Pisco, an area of Peru best known for a grape liquor that carries the same name, city officials confirmed that more than 85% of downtown had been destroyed, including an historic church whose high pitched ceiling came tumbling down on hundreds of worshippers. "The biggest problem is that Pisco no longer exists. Everything is destroyed. It has practically been razed." Said Julio Franco, CEO of a Spanish non-governmental organization, Firefighters Without Borders. Franco's NGO is just one of many pouring into the area to offer assistance. Peruvian President Garcia has pledged that there would be a system of normalcy in place on the ground within 10 days, but acknowledged that in rural outlying areas it will inevitably take longer.