Israeli humanitarian aid organization IsraAID has set up a field hospital in Ecuador, focusing efforts on medical treatments and psycho-social care.
The field hospital – operating since April 23, 2016 — is located in Canoa, near San Vincente, a popular beach town usually hopping with international tourists.
According to local reports, last week’s devastating magnitude-7.8 earthquake destroyed virtually all of the simple one- and two-story buildings in the town.
Many of the town’s residents, according to reports, are sleeping outside or in makeshift shelters.
IsraAID’s team arrived in Canoa via private planes “as land infrastructure was totally ruined,” the aid group said.
IsraAID said that in addition to its medical aid, the humanitarian volunteers have also set up child-friendly spaces.
Ecuador’s government says the death toll of the earthquake and aftershocks has risen to 654. Local reports also say that more than 25,000 people remained in shelters.