Chile mourns earthquake victims

Chile has begun three days of national mourning after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake killed hundreds of people and damaged infrastructure. Flags will be lowered across the country on Sunday as officials struggle to establish the exact number of the dead. The official toll was initially put at 802 people, but that was subsequently revised down to 452 confirmed deaths after it emerged that in some areas people who were simply missing had been listed as dead. Emergency workers, meanwhile, are still struggling to cope with problems caused by a series of strong after-shocks as well as dealing with the devastation triggered by the original quake. Around 500, 000 homes were destroyed by the earthquake and sanitary conditions for many still living on the streets have become a growing concern. "We have cases of gastroenteritis, respiratory problems, and  we've had heart problems due to fears caused by recent aftershocks," Carlos Barra, a doctor working in a health centre near Concepcion, the quake's epicentre, told the AFP news agency.