Haiti - earthquake

Thousands homeless, desperate relatives search for news

Article published on the 2010-01-15 Latest update 2010-01-15 18:09 TU

A man with the body of a relative in the parking lot of the general hospital in Port au Prince
(Photo: Reuters)

Chaos is breaking out in Haiti in the aftermath of Tuesday's earthquake. Some 300,000 people have been left homeless and people struggle to find food, water and shelter and track down their relations.

The UN has confirmed that 36 of its staff died in the earthquake, and nearly 200 remain unaccounted for. This makes it the worst tragedy in the UN's history. It says 3.5 million people were in the strong impact zone. Aid efforts are being delayed by looting.

Bertrin Ngabayam whose sister, Joseline Nguekeum, worked for the UN in Port-au-Prince, is desperate for news.

"I don't know if she's alive or not," he told RFI. "There's no news from her. The first day, her mobile rang and it seemed like someone took the call but I couldn't hear anything and then the next day the phone just went to voicemail."

Médecins Sans Frontières has treated more than 1,000 patients in four temporary tents. The organisation is bringing in an inflatable hospitable that contains two operating theatres, which will arrive in the next 24 hours.

Soldiers and experts are bringing in field hospitals, doctors, medicine, search and rescue teams with sniffer dogs, water and water purification equipment, food, tents, blankets and heavy-lifting equipment.

"What hits you first in Port-au-Prince is the smell of death, the smell of corpses,” correspondent Florent Guignard told RFI. “There are now concerns of epidemic because of contaminated water. Bodies are being picked up, but everything is terribly disorganised, partly because many state employees died in the earthquake."

The USS Carl Vinson, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is due to arrive in Haiti on Friday. It is filled with 19 helicopters to distribute water, medicine and other aid.

Two of the World Food Programme's warehouses have been looted and aid trucks are being ambushed on their way to the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.

"Our biggest problem is insecurity. Yesterday they tried to hijack some of our trucks. Today we were barely able to work in some places because of that," said Delfin Antonio Rodriguez, the rescue commander for the Dominican Republic.

The earthquake destroyed one in ten homes in Port-au-Prince. Haitian-born rap star Wyclef Jean calls it "the apocalypse" and has launched an appeal for donations.

"We spent the day picking up dead bodies, all day that's what we did," he told Fox News. "There's so much bodies in the streets that the morgues are filled up, the cemeteries are filled up."