AFP - A Chilean sailor returned four million pesos (7,600 dollars) in cash he found inside an open safe amid the rubble of a house destroyed by last month's devastating quake and tsunami, local media reported Friday.

"I gathered everything I could and put it back inside," Corporal Carlos Gomez of the Almirante Latorre frigate told La Segunda newspaper.

"While I was doing this, I thought the owner might need (the cash), so I called the officer in charge and we contacted the police," he added.

Gomez found the safe full of money, mud and water while scouring the sparsely populated Juan Fernandez Islands, which were destroyed by the February 27 disaster.

His unit was the first to reach the archipelago after the quake and tsunami, with orders to clear the affected areas.

The government has lowered the official death toll from the massive 8.8-magnitude quake and tsunami to 452, from an earlier high of 802.

Officials said another 96 people were still missing or unaccounted for.

Two million people were affected and 800,000 were left homeless, mainly in hard-hit central and southern coastal areas.