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Haiti earthquake

Survivor pulled from rubble 12 days later

Article published on the 2010-01-27 Latest update 2010-01-27 17:23 TU

A woman sits in front of a destroyed building in Port-au-Prince(Credit: Reuters)

A woman sits in front of a destroyed building in Port-au-Prince
(Credit: Reuters)

A survivor was pulled out of the rubble on Wednesday, 12 days after Haiti was struck by a massive quake in Port-au-Prince. The 31-year-old male was dehydrated and had a broken leg, but was rescued relatively unscathed after being buried in front of the ruins of a road called Rue de Miracles. The US military who rescued the man said he had been buried by an aftershock, two days after the 7.0 earthquake that killed at least 150,000 people.

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Meanwhile, survivors desperate for food went to a walled police compound in Cite Soleil, where they were let in one at a time to pick up food and water.

Others hung signs in French and English saying "S.O.S." and "we need food and water" in the hopes that the helicopters hovering overhead would come and bring badly needed provisions.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended the US's role in the response efforts as some criticised the slowness of aid being delivered to the people.

"I deeply resent those who attack our country, the generosity of our people and the leadership of our president in trying to respond to historically disasterous conditions after the earthquake," she said.

The US has posted 3,700 troops to Haiti, with another 10,000 stationed offshore.

The European Union on Wednesday relaunched the idea to create an EU crisis response force after the regional body was criticised for lack of "visibility" on the ground in Haiti.

In Jacmel, a city southwest of Port au Prince, Haiti's capitol, Canadian troops cleared debris to reopen Jacmel airport and increase the aid being airlifted to the area.

This reopened airport "will reduce the amount of congestion currently being experienced at the Port-au-Prince airport," said Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay in a briefing. Canada, France, the US, and the United Nations are all cleared to use the landing strip.

Lighting and fueling stations will be added in order to make the one-kilometre landing stip accessible 24 hours a day.

The Canadian ship HMCS Halifax is also anchored offshore to deal with radar because no radar currently exists at the Jacmel airport.