DESPERATELY NEEDED aid is finally reaching the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The World Food Programme said 270,000 people had received food rations by Monday night, and 10 million ready-to-eat rations would be distributed over the next week – enough to feed half a million people three times a day.
A senior Irish United Nations official in Haiti was confirmed yesterday as one of those who died in the earthquake. Andrew Grene (44), a citizen of Ireland and the US, was special assistant to the head of the UN stabilisation mission in Haiti, Hédi Addabi, who also died.
Meanwhile, helicopters dropped scores of US troops on to the grounds of the ruined presidential palace in Port-au-Prince. The UN Security Council voted to increase its forces, adding 2,000 troops to the 9,000 already on the ground, and 1,500 UN policemen.
US army Maj Gen Daniel Allyn, deputy commander of the joint taskforce on relief efforts, said there are now more than 2,000 US military on the ground and 5,000 afloat. The Americans will accompany UN troops distributing food.
The US reversed a decision by defence secretary Robert Gates not to carry out food drops. Some 14,000 ready-to-eat meals and 15,000 litres of water were dropped northeast of Port-au-Prince. Mr Gates had expressed fears that food drops could provoke riots if there was not sufficient preparation on the ground. US forces are now securing areas before pallets are dropped from helicopters.
UN spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said 90 people have been pulled alive from rubble since the earthquake and rescue efforts are now concentrated outside the capital. Ms Byrs insisted there was still hope for survivors. “The climate is mild, there are significant air pockets. The problem is dehydration but for the moment there is still a chance,” she said.
One of many wild rumours circulating here says the earthquake was provoked by a secret US nuclear test. So-called “eye-witnesses” claim they saw a “fire on the sea” before the cataclysm. The US motive, the rumours say, was to “re-occupy” Haiti.
France’s co-operation minister, Alain Joyandet, suggested on Monday that the US was “occupying” Haiti and urged the UN to “clarify” the US role. But yesterday President Nicolas Sarkozy said France was “very satisfied” with the co-operation and praised the US for its “exceptional mobilisation”.
Tension arose after the US seized control of Port-au-Prince airport and turned back at least two aircraft belonging to Doctors Without Borders, co-founded by French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner.