A team of Venezuelan workers rescued a 72-year-old man caught up in the wreckage of a collapsed buildings, two weeks after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that had killed nearly 650 people in the country.
According to the media reports, Manuel Vasquez, was pulled out from the rubble on Friday evening in the fisherman canton of Jaramijo, west of the country.
Vasquez was taken to hospital in the town of Jaramijo where his condition is improving as when the rescuers found him he was suffering from kidney failure and dehydration and had also lost three of his toes, the Venezuelan embassy told media.
A visiting search team from Venezuela discovered in the coastal province of Manabi while they were doing building inspections.
The team that rescued him is part of the Fuerza de Tarea Humanitaria Simón Bolívar, a Venezuelan rescue organization established in 2005 under Hugo Chavez's administration.
According to the latest government figures, the earthquake in Ecuador that struck on April 16 left 654 people dead, with 58 still missing and more than 16,600 injured. There are more than 113 people who have been rescued.
President Rafael Correa said 'These have been sad days for the homeland. ''The country is in crisis.'
As per reports, tremors are still expected to continue for several weeks. There are more than 7,000 buildings destroyed,and 25,000 people were living in shelters while 14,000 security personnel were keeping order.
Government has been providing food, water and medicine to the quake survivors.
Due to bad roads foreign aid workers have been delayed in reaching some communities, Correa acknowledged.
The government has said it would temporarily increase some taxes, offer assets for sale and possibly issue bonds abroad to fund reconstruction.
Correa has estimated damage at $2 billion to $3 billion. The World Bank said last week it would lend Ecuador $150 million to speed up assistance to victims.
UN World Food Program stated that about one in every 30 Ecuadorians, were in need of food assistance after the quake disturbed their livelihoods.
The United Nations has pledged to distribute food to more than 250,000 people in need.
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