CRI听力:President Xi Extends Deepest Condolences to Ecaudor in Wake of Deadly Quake

President Xi's remarks come as foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang extended deepest sympathies of the Chinese government and people to those affected by the deadly quake in Ecuador.

"As you know the Chinese government and people we care a lot about what happened in Ecuador; our sympathies are with the Ecuador people and we have already expressed our condolences to those [who] passed away in this earthquake. We strongly believe that the Ecuadorian people will conquer all these difficulties and reestablish their homeland at an early date."

Lu Kang adds that China remains in close contact with the Ecuadorian government in order to provide necessary assistance in the wake of the disaster.

The outpouring of support has been similar in other parts of the world.

The European Union has released 1 million euros, some 1.13 million USD, as an initial humanitarian aid package to be delivered through the EU's humanitarian partners in Ecuador.

Latin American nations are also stepping up to provide relief.

Bolivia sent a plane laden with food, drinking water, survival equipment and medicine to aid the recovery effort.

Cuban rescue and recovery teams as well as squads of Cuban doctors left on a relief mission to Ecuador on Sunday.
 
One member of the Cuban medical team, Alex Castaneda Castillo, recently returned from a mission in Sierra Lione, and says he feels a similar sense of duty in Ecuador.

"We came from Sierra Leone, for the Ebola outbreak, and now we are again going to take on the mission that our homeland and duty have given us. We know that this was a wide-ranging earthquake and we have to help our brother people."

Rescue and recovery efforts are well underway in the hard-hit areas of Ecuador like the coastal town of Pedernales.

Heavy machinery and teams of search and rescue workers dig through mountains of rubble in an effort to find survivors, while Residents can be seen curled up on mattresses and plastic chairs next to their flattened homes.

Tents have sprung up in the town's still-intact stadium to store bodies, treat the injured, and distribute water, food, and blankets.

Pedernales Resident Camilo Lopez says that despite the devastation, he and others are determined to move forward.

"You have to get up. I am not a pessimistic person. You have to get up and continue on."

For CRI, I'm Spencer Musick.