TOLL MOUNTING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 23, 28 January 1939, Page 9

TOLL MOUNTING.

'QUAKE CASUALTIES.

Thousands Face Threat of Famine and Disease. SHOCKING DESTRUCTION. United Press Association.—Copyright. (Received 12 noon.) SANTIAGO (Chile), January 2T. Stories of rich communities destroyed, thousands killed and hundreds of thousands facing the threat of disease and famine are told in the still fragmentary reports from' the earthquake zone. The deaths may reach over 20,000 in four cities alone. An official estimate of the dead to-day was as follows:—Cauquennes, 5000; Concepcion, 3000; San Rosendo, 2000; Chilian, 10,000. From a host of villages and small towns the toll mounted each hour. An offer of aid from President Roosevelt has been received by the Chilian Government. A United States Army bomber is expected to leave Panama today carrying gangrene and typhoid serums and concentrated foods. Following an inspection carried out by Government officials who flew over the devastated areas, the complete evacuation and at least temporary, if pot permanent, abandonment of Chilian and Concepcion was ordered. A long parade of motor cars and vehicles of all descriptions carrying the survivors began the trek north over the dangerous, cracked roads. Others are being evacuated by sea.

Meanwhile, a pitifully small army of rescue workers, toiling against heavy odds in almost unbearable heat and with insufficient drinking water, continued feverishly to bury the dead, aid those injured and imprisoned in ruined buildings, and otherwise restore some order from the indescribable chaos.

Among the items of serious per-, manent damage is the tearing up of the coal mining districts, where the diggings are in a dangerous condition and the miners' homes have been obliterated.

The Argentine, French, German and American air lines are co-operating in helping the Government to establish contact with the devastated area.

According to reports from the British Ambassador at Santiago, no British lives were lost at Concepcion or Emuco, says a British official wireless message.