Relief groups say Peru still badly needs aid 2 weeks after quake

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Relief officials urgently appealed for more aid Thursday for survivors of a magnitude-8 earthquake that shattered cities along Peru's southern coast, saying people still badly need blankets, tents and medical help. Survivors are living on the streets in cardboard shelters under desperate, unhygienic conditions, two weeks after the quake struck, said Doctors Without Borders spokesman Francois Dumont, speaking from the village of Guadeloupe. "We found the town completely destroyed," Dumont told The Associated Press by telephone. "In makeshift shelters made of cardboard and bed sheets in front of their destroyed houses, families are living in cold and unhygienic conditions. They have no latrines, no drinking water and no real space to bathe." Even things like soap are needed to prevent the spread of skin diseases, he said.