Salvadorans from U.S. fly home to help bury earthquake dead

In this story: 'We've lost our children' Rescue efforts wane Musician's funeral scheduled RELATED STORIES, SITES

ARMENIA, El Salvador -- With their relatives homeless after a massive earthquake struck over the weekend, many Salvadorans living in the United States are returning home to help bury their dead.

VIDEO CNN's Susan Candiotti reports overdevelopment on the mountainside may have been responsible for the landslide in Santa Tecla Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Susan Candiotti visits a Salvadoran town still waiting for governmental aid (January 18) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    AUDIO Journalist Martin Austurias provides an eyewitness account from Guatemala 730K/31 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     MESSAGE BOARD Central American quake    RESOURCES El Salvador National Emergency Committee information on quake aftermath (Spanish)    DONATIONS To make donations from the United States call: (in English:) 1-800-HELP-NOW 1-800-435-7669 (in Spanish:) 1-800-257-7575    IN-DEPTH Earthquakes of the 20th Century

In addition to the death toll of 683 in Saturday's magnitude-7.6 quake, at least six people died in neighboring Guatemala. More than 2,500 people were injured and nearly 45,000 others were evacuated.

The Salvadoran government estimates the quake caused more than $1 billion in damage -- almost half of the nation's budget.

Fathers -- some who hadn't been back home for more than a decade -- on Wednesday rushed off planes into the arms of crying children and families waited in front of the airport for sons to help them rebuild collapsed homes.

'We've lost our children'

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Sonia Henriquez prepared to return to El Salvador to bury eight relatives killed when a hillside collapsed during the quake near the town of Santa Tecla.

Henriquez spent two days waiting for news about her loved ones. Finally, her brother called and said that along with her three children, Henriquez lost four grandchildren, all under 10 years old, and her son-in-law.

"We've lost our children," said the distraught Henriquez, 46, who has lived in the United States with her husband since 1989. "They had all gone to the river to get water. When the earthquake struck, a mountain collapsed on them."

In Las Colinas, a neighborhood outside San Salvador, workers dug out a buried house where scrambled eggs still lay on the stove and a strainer sat untouched in the sink. Yet there was no sign of Luis Flores' niece, who was believed to have been inside.

"If only she had been in the kitchen," Flores said. "How can these things survive when she is gone?"

Rescue efforts wane

As rescue efforts waned, the focus turned toward feeding and housing the thousands of people evacuated from their homes. Roads to many small villages remained blocked, some nearly completely destroyed by the quake. Damaged pipes made safe drinking water scarce across the country.

The mayor of the town where Las Colinas is located said Wednesday that federal officials are trying to take control of the millions of dollars in aid people are sending him from around the world, and he fears his people will be shut out.

"If you're not going to help, at least don't be a hindrance," Mayor Oscar Ortiz said he told federal emergency officials. "We need to have aid come directly to the people."

Ortiz, who is from the country's leftist opposition party, recalled previous disasters in which some international aid ended up in the pockets of government officials and said he wouldn't let that happen again. Government officials said they merely want to centralize control of the aid so it doesn't go astray.

Musician's funeral scheduled

Musician Sergio Moreno, 22, who spent 31 hours entombed under cinderblocks and dirt -- died late Tuesday at a hospital. Moreno's rescue had captured the country's attention, with television stations showing live footage of him being pulled from his buried house after he used his cellular phone to call for help.

Family members planned to bury him Thursday in the town of Acajutla, southwest of the capital.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

'Strong' earthquake hits Southwest Alaska coast
January 10, 2001
Sluggish Hurricane Keith swamps Central America with rain
October 2, 2000
Little damage reported in Mexico earthquake
August 9, 2000

U.S. Geological Survey Home Page
  • Earthquake Information for the World
The Richter Scale
Central America Earthquake Map - Last 14 days

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.