CHILE: Actor Elijah Wood visits quake-stricken areas

Record ID: 365215

  • Title: CHILE: Actor Elijah Wood visits quake-stricken areas
  • Date: 23rd April 2010
  • Summary: SLATE INFORMATION
  • Embargoed: 8th May 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Chile
  • Country: Chile
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVAAFWM28QBYAYCLRX69BEVRQ0FE
  • Story Text: U.S. actor Elijah Wood visited Curepto on Thursday (April 22), a Chilean city badly damaged by the 8.8-magnitude earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that struck the South American nation on February 27.
    The 29-year-old Hollywood celebrity, most known for depicting Frodo in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, arrived in Chile on Tuesday after being invited by Jorge Yarur, the founder of an organization that supports abandoned pets.
    Wood travelled with the First Lady, Cecilia Morel, to Curepto where thousands of people are homeless and hundreds of pets were left on the streets after the tragedy.
    During a news conference, Wood told reporters that he was genuinely concerned with the country after the quake.
    "Like Jorge said, I immediately emailed Jorge and a couple of other people that I know here. Having been here a couple of times over the past couple of years, obviously it made an impression on me that people that I know, the city that I've spent time in, could have been damaged. Obviously, when you have a connection with a place, it makes you even more concerned about its well-being, so, yeah, just genuine concern. And it's so crazy because the world seems to be hit by an earthquake every couple of weeks so it's a little crazy at the moment but, yeah, I was just genuinely concerned, having spent time here and feeling a connection to the country," he said.
    The quake and ensuing tsunami killed several hundred people and caused around $30 billion in damage to Chile's infrastructure, homes and industry.
    Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said the government will spend $8.4 billion dollars on reconstruction after February's massive earthquake.
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