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LATIN AMERICA |
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Fire
Destroys 106 Homes in Ecuador’s Largest City
QUITO – A fire destroyed 106 houses in the
Ecuadorian Pacific coast city of Guayaquil
and left more than 500 people homeless, as
well as 14 children with symptoms of smoke
inhalation.
The disaster occurred in a poor neighborhood
known as Cooperativa Esmeraldas Chiquito.
Health Minister Caroline Chang, who visited
the scene, said that no deaths have been
reported as a result of the blaze.
Nonetheless, she said that 14 children were
hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
Two pregnant women were also taken to
medical centers with symptoms of labor as a
consequence of the shock of the incident,
she said.
At the moment, three mobile units from the
Health Ministry are providing medical and
psychological assistance to those affected,
while a shelter has been readied to receive
the homeless.
The Housing Ministry is studying whether to
declare an emergency in order to deliver
cement houses in a period of 45 days to
replace the area’s cane houses, President
Rafael Correa’s office said on its Web site.
Based on preliminary reports, the
representative of the Economic and Social
Inclusion Ministry, Francisco Esterellas,
said on Telecentro television that “more
than 500 people” were affected by the
burning of over 100 homes.
Though the causes of the disaster are
unknown, locals said it was probably due to
an electrical short circuit.
Guayas Gov. Roberto Cuero, who visited the
scene Friday, said that a “crisis committee”
would be organized with all the institutions
necessary to coordinate action to determine
how many people were affected and the
mechanisms needed to help them. EFE |
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