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Chile appoints panel to study quake toll controversy Santiago (AFP) March 18, 2010 The Chilean government has formed a panel to determine the number of people killed in the 8.8 magnitude earthquake on February 27, local media reported. The move follows contradictory toll figures released by different government offices over the past two weeks. The new government of President Sebastian Pinera will carry out a complete recount and cross-check all the figures, said Deputy Interior Secretary Rodrigo Ubilla. Six officials will compile a list of people killed in the quake and the tsunami that followed with names and identification documents, the daily La Tercera reported. The death toll peaked on March 3 when then-deputy interior minister Patricio Rosende announced 802 deaths. Five days later however he said that 487 people had been killed and were identified, without explaining the discrepancy. On Wednesday the head of the Investigations Police, Marcos Vasquez, said that just over 500 people had been identified, and there were 130 cases filed of people presumed to be dead. But the Legal Medical Services office on Wednesday said that only 323 victims had been identified. The politically conservative Pinera took office one week ago, replacing socialist Michelle Bachelet. Ubilla said that officials cannot say "if the information delivered by the previous government was imprecise or not."
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