The death toll from Saturday’s devastating earthquake in Chile rose to more than 700 last night as rescue workers fanned out across a 370-mile (600km) stretch of the country searching for bodies and survivors.
President Michelle Bachelet directed rescue operations and toured heavily hit areas as the race continued to provide basic supplies to entire cities that remained without water, electricity or communications. Bachelet said 2 million people were affected by the 8.8-magnitude quake, adding that it would take several days to evaluate the “enormous quantity of damage.”