Rescue workers ... carry a corpse from earthquake rubble in Pedernales, Ecuador on April 20, 2016. Picture: AFP.

Ecuador’s lawyer general said that 553 people were killed during the quake. The previous report put the number of dead at 525.

Another 4,065 people are injured and about 100 remain missing following Saturday evening’s magnitude-7.8 quake along the Pacific coast.

Thousands of people have been left homeless, making them vulnerable to dirty drinking water and disease.

The World Food Programme and Oxfam are sending supplies, while the UN said it was preparing a “major airlift”.

Collapsed buildings ... Some people have been pulled out of the rubble alive but, despite the efforts of emergency teams, hope is fading that others will be found. Picture: Supplied.Source:AFP

Pope Francis has also sent another message of encouragement to victims. He told a crowd of Roman Catholics at the Vatican that that his prayers are with the victims of the tragedy.

The cost of rebuilding could be up to $3 billion, President Rafael Correa said during a visit to the worst-affected region.

Sniffer dogs and mechanical diggers were being used to search for survivors in areas and the smell of rotting bodies was filling the air, witnesses said.

Some people have been pulled out of the rubble alive but, despite the efforts of emergency teams, hope is fading that others will be found.

From Tuesday, rescue efforts would become more of a hunt for corpses, Ecuador’s Interior Minister Jose Serrano told Reuters.