More Aid Pour In For
Haiti Quake Victims
Aid
from around the world has began arriving in quake stricken Haiti
on Thursday, while rescuers struggled frantically to save the
trapped and injured, turning pickup trucks into ambulances and
doors into stretchers.
Planes carrying teams from China and France, Spain and the
United States landed at Port-au-Prince's airport with searchers
and tons of water, food, medicine and other supplies.
More pledges from around the globe are still expected.
Unknown casualty figures
There was no firm estimate on how many people were killed by
Tuesday's quake. Haitian President Rene Preval said the toll
could be in the thousands.
Search and rescue squads from Virginia and Iceland arrived on
Wednesday.
The U.S. dispatched troops and ships along with aid to Haiti and
other nations are joining the effort to help the Western
Hemisphere's poorest nation, where an estimated 3 million people
— a third of the population — may need emergency relief.
In the streets of the capital, survivors set up camps amid piles
of salvaged goods, including food scavenged from the rubble.
Makeshift facilities
The aid group Doctors Without Borders treated wounded at two
hospitals that withstood the quake and set up tent clinics
elsewhere to replace its damaged facilities. Cuba, which already
had more than 300 doctors in Haiti, treated injured in field
hospitals.
President Barack Obama promised an all-out rescue and
humanitarian effort including the military and civilian
emergency teams from across the U.S.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that 91 injured
French nationals were evacuated to the Caribbean island of
Martinique in three planes that had delivered aid and medical
personnel.
Massive efforts
About 3,000 police and international peacekeepers cleared
debris, directed traffic and maintained security in the capital.
The U.N.'s 9,000-member peacekeeping force sent patrols across
the capital's streets while securing the airport, port and main
buildings.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had set up
a Web site to help Haitians find missing loved ones.
AP/Yinka
