Haiti Devastated by Massive Earthquake, Desperate Search for Survivors Continues

In Haiti, the scale of the devastation following Tuesday’s massive earthquake is staggering. The death toll is unknown, it is almost certainly in the tens of thousands but could be 100,000 or more. Bodies lie in the streets amid collapsed buildings and the cries of people buried beneath rubble continue to ring out. The situation is increasingly desperate, with no coordinated rescue plan so far and aid only trickling in. A desperate search for survivors continues but rescuers lack heavy lifting equipment and are often using their bare hands.

Much of the capital city Port-au-Prince has been leveled leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. The city’s infrastructure took a blow of incalculable proportions as hospital, schools, hotels and markets have crumbled. The city’s main prison also collapsed as did several Roman Catholic Archdiocese buildings. The city’s archbishop is dead. The chief of the UN mission remains missing. President René Préval described stepping over bodies and hearing the cries of those trapped under the rubble of the national Parliament.

The World Health Organisation said it had sent specialists to help clear the city of corpses, and the International Red Cross was sending a plane loaded mainly with body bags.
Medicine, food and water are in short supply. And Haitians are desperate for aid.

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck close to 5pm on Tuesday about 10 miles from Port-au-Prince. It was Haiti’s worst earthquake in two centuries. Dozens of aftershocks measuring up to 5.9 in magnitude have rattled the city. Many people are gathered in parks, either sleeping on the ground or under makeshift tents as they wait for aid to arrive.

Plane-loads of rescuers and relief supplies are said to be on the way from the EU, Canada, Russia and Latin American nations. Two US aircraft carriers are also expected to arrive soon.

With communications largely down, it has been very difficult to reach people on the ground in Haiti. But late last night Democracy Now spoke to a young father named Jesse Hagopian in Port-Au-Prince over the phone. Jesse had been visiting Haiti from Washington state along with his wife and one-year-old child. For the past two days he has helped care for the injured.

Jesse Hagopian, visiting Haiti from Washington state along with his wife and one-year-old child.

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