QUITO, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The number of people rescued alive has reached 113 after the devastating magnitude-7.8 earthquake hit Ecuador on April 16, disaster-relief authorities said Friday.
The Risk Management Secretariat announced in its daily report that the death toll from the quake currently stands at 659, with 4,605 injuries. The Manabi region alone registered 645 deaths.
The government body said that the number of missing people and those living in shelters decreased from 42 and 29,067 on Thursday to 33 and 22,421 on Friday respectively.
The report also said that 22,421 food packages have been delivered to the affected regions where 166 schools showed signs of "medium to serious damage." Besides, 376 people are in urgent need of medicine and equipment such as wheelchairs, walking sticks, walking frames, crutches, mattresses and headphones.
After the catastrophe, the government declared a state of emergency in the affected coastal provinces such as Las Guayas, Los Rios and Santa Elena.
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