INTERNATIONAL AID:TROOPS, RESCUE teams, food and medical supplies were arriving in Haiti yesterday as the enormity of its humanitarian crisis led world leaders to pledge further help for the beleaguered country.
With aftershocks from Tuesday’s earthquake still being reported in the capital, Port-au-Prince, the Haitian Red Cross said it believed 45,000 to 50,000 people had died and three million more were injured or had been left homeless by the catastrophe.
The quake flattened entire hillsides, and many people were believed to be still trapped alive in the rubble. About 1,500 corpses were piled up outside the main hospital and it was reported that bodies lay on many of the capital’s streets.
Aircraft full of supplies arrived at Port-au-Prince airport throughout the day, although it was reported that aid had yet to reach thousands of Haitians affected by the earthquake.
As the race to reach survivors intensified, the US said it was sending 3,500 soldiers and 300 medical personnel to help with disaster relief and security, with the first of those scheduled to arrive yesterday.
The Pentagon was also sending an aircraft carrier and three amphibious ships, including one that can carry up to 2,000 Marines.
“To the people of Haiti, we say clearly and with conviction, you will not be forgotten. In this, your hour of greatest need, America stands with you. The world stands with you,” US president Barack Obama said.
Haiti’s parliament, the national palace, and many government buildings collapsed and it was unclear how many politicians and officials survived and to what extent there was a functioning state. The main prison also fell, allowing dangerous criminals to escape.
In Paris, French president Nicolas Sarkozy said the earthquake was symptomatic of a “curse” on the former French colony and proposed an international conference to provide reconstruction help and aid.
“From this catastrophe, which follows so many others, we should make sure that it is a chance to get Haiti once and for all out of the curse it seems to have been stuck with for such a long time,” Mr Sarkozy said, adding that France would be sending two military ships with a water treatment centre and new search teams.
The World Bank promised $100 million (€69 million) in emergency funds for recovery and reconstruction, while in Geneva, UN officials said they expected to issue an international emergency appeal for funds and other assistance for Haiti as soon as the needs on the ground had been assessed.
The Haitian Red Cross had run out of body bags yesterday and the International Committee of the Red Cross said 3,000 were on the way. Brazil, which leads the UN peacekeeping force, proposed an emergency plan to set up a new cemetery and the US was sending mortuary teams.
The UN said at least 36 members of its peacekeeping mission had been killed and scores were still missing. “This is a major humanitarian disaster,” UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said.
“To hear those reports of suffering, every hour to see these terrible images on television, is very, very painful to all of us.”
He said the international goal was to save as many lives as possible within the first 72 hours following the quake.
As a result of lessons learned after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, when aid agencies were criticised for poor co-ordination, governmental and private aid organisations were to adopt what is known as the “UN cluster system”, under which major UN agencies take co-ordinating roles for health, shelter and food.
The US, China, and European states were sending reconnaissance and rescue teams, some with search dogs and heavy equipment, while other governments and aid groups sent tents, water purification units, food and telecoms teams.
To help with the difficult task of treating the injured in a city where hospitals have been destroyed, Médecins Sans Frontières was sending an inflatable hospital with two operating theatres and the Brazilian military was sending two field hospitals. The US navy hospital ship Comfort was on its way back to Haiti, where it delivered medical care after a spate of storms caused massive flooding and mudslides in 2008.
However, aid distribution within the country was hampered because roads were still blocked by rubble and normal communications were cut off.