Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday after the strongest earthquake hit the poor Caribbean nation in more than 200 years crushed thousands of structures, from humble shacks to the National Palace and the UN peacekeeping headquarters. Untold numbers were still trapped.
Destroyed communications made it impossible to tell the extent of destruction from Tuesday afternoon’s 7.0-magnitude tremor, or to estimate how many were dead among the collapsed buildings in Haiti’s capital of about 2 million people.
France’s foreign minister said the head of the UN peacekeeping mission was apparently among the dead.
International Red Cross spokesman Paul Conneally said an estimated 3 million people may have been affected by the quake and that it would take a day or two for a clear picture of the damage to emerge. Clouds of dust thrown up by falling buildings choked Port-au-Prince for hours.
The Canadian government has sent a small reconnaissance team to assess damage in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon announced Wednesday morning.
“Canada is committed to supporting the Haitian people in these devastating times. We understand the situation is very chaotic and damage is extensive,” Mr. Cannon told a press conference in Ottawa.
The federal government sent a team of about 20 members of the Disaster Assistance Response Team. They were expected to arrive in the region by mid-morning. However, Mr. Cannon said it was not known whether the team would be able to land at the Port-au-Prince airport or whether they would have to land in neighbouring Dominican Republic.
The Disaster Assistance Response Team is a group of about 200 Canadian soldiers who travel to hard-hit areas of the world to provide short-term water purification and medical services until long-term help arrives.
“We need eyes to assess the damage,” says a senior official for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, explaining why the reconnaissance team is being deployed. “It’s a very bad situation with lots of injuries and trapped people. We have been in planning and prepping all night.”
The DART team is being sent to “further assess the needs on the ground and will provide additional recommendations” to the federal government, Mr. Cannon said.
Mr. Cannon said he had spoken with Canada’s ambassador to Haiti on Wednesday morning, noting the embassy was evacuated last night as a precautionary measure. Canadian citizens are taking refuge at the embassy, which is providing food and medical aid. Some 7,000 Canadians live in Haiti.
“Nothing indicates to us that there are Canadians deceased,” Mr. Cannon said.
The federal government is considering sending a larger DART force, possibly including a C-17 airplane equipped with medical equipment as well as two search-and-rescue Griffin-style helicopters.
As well, 83 Canadian police officers, seven correctional officers and five armed forces members are currently in Haiti as part of the United Nations mission there.
Governor-General Michaëlle Jean, who was born in Haiti and lived there until age 11, issued a statement Tuesday saying she is following the situation “with great attention and concern”.
“This natural disaster has hit a country with an extremely fragile infrastructure, where many buildings are already unstable, and where living conditions are often very difficult. I fear for its people. I would like all Haitians to know that they are not alone and that the people of Canada will respond to this emergency,” she said.
The United States and other nations began organizing aid efforts, alerting search teams and gathering supplies that will be badly needed in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country. The international Red Cross and other aid groups announced plans for major relief operations.
“Haiti has moved to centre of the world’s thoughts and the world’s compassion,” said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Associated Press journalists based in Port-au-Prince found the damage staggering even for a country long accustomed to tragedy and disaster.
Aftershocks rattled the city as women covered in dust clawed out of debris, wailing. Stunned people wandered the streets holding hands. Thousands gathered in public squares long after nightfall, singing hymns.
People pulled bodies from collapsed homes, covering them with sheets by the side of the road. Passersby lifted the sheets to see if a loved one was underneath. Outside a crumbled building the bodies of five children and three adults lay in a pile.
Continued>>>
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