Quake-damaged airport in Chilean capital reopens
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Two flights, one from Peru and the other the United States, landed on the international airport here Sunday afternoon, marking the reopening of the airport which was slightly damaged when a massive quake hit the country Saturday.
The airport's runways reopened Sunday afternoon for a flight from the Peruvian capital of Lima and another flight from the U.S. city of Miami, Chilean media reported.
The airport has not yet fully resumed normal operation and flights' takeoff and landing should follow strict safety controls, the reports said.
The airport, 10 km from the capital city proper, had been closed after Saturday's quake and all outbound and inbound flights were postponed or cancelled.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said on Sunday the death toll from the large earthquake has reached 708 and was likely to increase as rescue operations went on. Over 2 million people were affected by the temblor and more than 1.5 million buildings were damaged or destroyed.
Some estimates put the total damage at between 15 billion U.S. dollars and 30 billion U.S. dollars, equal to 10 percent to 20 percent of Chile's gross domestic product.
In the hardest-hit town of Concepcion, 115 km from the epicenter of the quake, which is off the coast of Maule region, the whole downtown area was razed to the ground.
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