PERU: Earthquake victims bed down in the streets of Pisco

Thousands of homeless earthquake victims sleep in the streets and worry about the future as they face dwindling food supplies. Frustration mounted for thousands of earthquake victims in southern Peru who bedded down for a third night outdoors on Friday (August 17) after they were left homeless by a powerful 8.0-magnitude earthquake. The voices were different but, in the darkness of the night, they blended together, echoing familiar themes. One woman walked through the rubble of her house, pleading for help. Esther Quispe improvised supper for her brood by serving them two types of tea: coca and chamomile. Her granddaughter's wailing cries registered her protest. "We just got batteries and we'll see if they'll be some good to us," she said. "Look at us! Drinking chamomile water so we don't get colic. We are spending the whole night here." Down the street, Javier Crespo and three members of his family shared a mattress on the ground. With nothing but time on his hands, the young man's thoughts had turned to the worst. "The dead are still buried under," he said, fully aware that recovery efforts are progressing slowly in the face of such vast devastation. "When this explodes, it's going to stink here. It will contaminate the children: epidemics, cholera-- all of that. We're without supplies. without anything. We've even lost our jobs because who can work now, like this, if there's nothing?" At the nearby military base, guards watched for looters who prowled the street. At least 510 people were killed and one thousand were injured by Wednesday's (August 15) earthquake. Thousands were left homeless and the numbers may still rise as emergency officials warn that reports from remote affected areas are just beginning to reach authorities.

ITN Source | August 18, 2007

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