U.S. military contemplates end of rescue phase in Haiti

[StarfarerBill]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — U.S. military rescuers who are searching through the rubble of Haiti's earthquake-crushed buildings have found no American survivors in the last two days and are contemplating changing their efforts from seeking the living to recovering the dead, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

A U.S. Defense Department team detected signs of life in five locations, including one manned by rescuers from Ecuador , but it's not clear whether anyone was pulled alive at those spots.

Maj. Gen. Daniel Allyn , the deputy commander of the Joint Task force Unified Response, said in a videoconference Tuesday from Haiti that he expected that transition to take place "very soon."

Among the places where rescue teams have been searching for Americans is the Hotel Montana , one of Port-au-Prince's most popular locations for visiting Americans. Among those thought to be buried there are four students and two faculty members from Lynn University , a private institution in Boca Raton, Fla. Eight other students escaped.

Haitian officials say that as many as 200,000 people may have died in the quake Jan. 12 and tens of thousands more were injured. International rescue teams have reported pulling fewer than 100 survivors from the rubble in the week since.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100119/wl_mcclatchy/3404334

[MercutioATC]

1. After 72 hours, the chance of finding people alive drops dramatically.

It's logical that the focus should now turn to restoring basic infrastructure and providing medical care and housing to the displaced.

[sce56]

2. They were pulling people out alive yesterday!

The ones that came out the best were found under the rubble of stores where they had access to food! It is not to late to still save more.

[MercutioATC]

4. I didn't say that it was "too late", I said that the effort is most efficiently used elsewhere.

There's much to do and a limited amount of resources. Allocating them wisely is necessary.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dipsydoodle]

3. That may be why

they refused yet another Médecins Sans Frontières plane permission to land this morning. :sarcasm:

[FedUpWithIt All]

5. Did they refuse MSF again? How many times now? n/t

[PacerLJ35]

7. Stop using "refused" and start getting used to the term "diverted"

I've had a number of friends fly down there in USAF aircraft, and some of them have been diverted as well. MSF/DWB isn't the only group that has to deal with this.

[dipsydoodle]

8. I avoided being pedantic

Whatever - I know it wasn't just MSF : it was search and rescue teams in general regardless of country of origin. You'll find that our news coverage on the subject of Haiti is more comprehensive and complete than your own.

[jxnmsdemguy65]

6. DU posters should be put in charge of the relief effort...

they're the obvious experts....

[EFerrari]

10. Some of us are agreeing with experts like MSF

and the director of the General Hospital in PaP.