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Haiti struck again one week on from killer quake

Published: 20 January, 2010, 16:20
Edited: 05 March, 2010, 00:27

UN soldier stands guard in Port au Prince (AFP Photo / Juan Barreto)

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TAGS: Natural disasters, Russia, South America, Accident, Haiti, USA


An aftershock measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale shook Haiti early Wednesday morning, just a week after a severe earthquake ravaged the capital Port-au-Prince.

The epicenter of the 6.1 magnitude aftershock was some 60 kilometers west of the ruined capital Port-au-Prince.

Although there have been no reports of damage so far, the quake rattled buildings and sent panicking people running to the streets.

Local officials estimate that at least 200 thousand may have died in Tuesday’s earthquake, more that 250 thousand have been injured and 1.5 million more have likely been left homeless.

Another tremor, measuring three to four points on the Richter scale, shook Haiti Saturday night. Russian rescuers do not rule out further destruction.

In the meantime, earthquake survivors are doing what they can to live through the disaster’s aftermath. The homeless and poor are looting what remains of the city stores and buildings, while others are trying to get by with whatever help they can find. Pregnant women are giving birth on the roads under a scorching sun and the wounded still arrive in large numbers to mobile hospitals.

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More than 1,700 specialized international rescue workers are in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, conducting rescue operations. According to the UN, rescue teams have saved 121 lives.

About 50 Russian rescuers are currently searching for survivors.

"Three teams of rescuers are at work,” said Russian rescue team member Yury Maslov. “Two teams are doing a random search in the city center, where four survivors were found on Saturday. It is still possible to find other survivors in that area. The third team will be looking for a missing Russian citizen in the northwestern outskirts of Port-au-Prince."

Thus far, a total of nine lives have been saved with the help of Russian rescuers.

Two more Russian airplanes carrying medicine, water and food supplies from Venezuela arrived in Haiti late Sunday night.

Approximately 70,000 victims have already been buried. Haiti’s Ministry of Health stated that authorities may have to cremate bodies to avoid outbreaks of disease.

The bottleneck at the capital's small airport and damaged roads have hindered the delivery of aid, further agitating the situation in the region.

More than 2,000 members of Haiti’s police force were killed in the earthquake, said the president of Haiti Rene Preval during a press conference on Sunday. Three thousand inmates have escaped from the capital’s main prison.

Local authorities and international experts fear that the rising chaos and struggle over scarce vital supplies may trigger a full-blown conflict.

General Ban Ki-moon has asked the Security Council to beef up the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti with 1,500 additional police and 2,000 troops to better respond to the massive earthquake. The extra troops will be needed in place for next six months, he said.

And as the spokesperson for UN Secretary General Ari Gaitanis told RT, the military is not going away anytime soon.

“It is going to be a long-term effort here – I mean six months to a year, and I would say many more years,” he said.

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The two challenges now stand out in the Haitian capital, Ban Ki-moon said after briefing the Council on Monday – unclogging bottlenecks to deliver aid quickly and coordination.

After a Sunday visit to Port-au-Prince, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said Haiti was facing “one of the worse humanitarian crises in decades” and asked the international community to boost its assistance.

And with the security situation now spiraling out of control, police in the capital Port-au-Prince have already confirmed they have lost the battle to maintain order in the city. Only a small portion of the food, water and medicine has reached survivors.

Filmmaker and blogger Danny Schechter says this rescue operation will go down in history as a huge failure.

“This is going to go down in history as one of the biggest screw ups – perhaps even criminally negligent deliveries of aid – that has ever been,” Schechter said.

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Meanwhile, France has accused the US of “occupying” quake-devastated Haiti, saying Washington is hindering the relief effort with an influx of troops.

Eventually more than 10,000 US troops are expected to take part in tackling looting and violence that have been on the rise a week after the disaster.

The French minister in charge of humanitarian relief, Alain Joyandet, has asked the UN to clarify America's role in Haiti.

He says that after US troops took charge of the main airport, they've been turning away aircraft carrying aid in favor of military planes.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office tried to defuse the situation by praising America's exceptional effort and its essential role on the ground.

But the Doctors without Borders organization (MSF) backed Joyandet's call, adding that any delay to aid threatens lives.

The chief of the organization's French branch told RT about the problems they face in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.

“The MSF is trying to get in medical surgical equipment as well as teams, quite a lot actually. And we have almost nine planes going to Port-au-Prince. Some of them were allowed to land and some of them were not,” said the head of MSF France, Philippe Ribeiro.

Venezuela has also spoken against the excessive presence of US troops in the country.

“I read that 3,000 soldiers are arriving. Marines armed as if they were going to war. There is not a shortage of guns there, my God,” President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez said during a TV program. “Doctors, medicine, fuel, field hospitals – that is what the United States should send. They are occupying Haiti undercover.”

Chavez has even gone so far as to say the US could be behind the earthquake.

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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday that the US government had no intention of taking power from Haitian officials, adding: "We are working to back them up, but not to supplant them."

Itar Tass news agency reported on Thursday that a Russian relief plane is also stranded in Venezuela because the American air traffic controllers at Port-au-Prince airport refuse to let the plane land.

The US has attempted to justify the situation citing heavy congestion at the single-runway airport. It has not, however, explained why it has given preference to its own aircraft.

The UN has promised to investigate the accusations and take the leading role in coordinating relief efforts.

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Read also – Haiti: Too Many Cooks…

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Nello January 21, 2010, 06:28
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Haiti Earthquake Disaster: Congratulations go to Russia, China, Iceland, Cuba & VeneZuela for being very fast in getting aid, equipment & personnel on the ground to help the Haitians. However, the USA is apparently more eager to colonise this nation for their New World Order world Government as a base for eventual war with Cuba & Venezuela (together with bases in Colombia & Netherlands antilles). A case in Point is the disgusting disregard for the lifesaving medical supplies which were prohibited from being delivered to the Haiti Capital's City by Air as the US military has taken over the airport and will not allow further air deliveries by MSF.

William January 20, 2010, 16:48
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Once again the world has been challenged by Nature. You can have new Machine guns like the one the President of Russia was working out or Nuclear weapons but you can't beat nature. However, the Superpower has lived to its obligations. This leaves me wondering what has Russia done if at all it wants to be equally respected or be on the same footing like US. Can you imagine China with the most vibrant economy now gave 1M dollars only. This shows that US will rule the world for ever. I urge countries like Russia, China , India emulate US and do something if they want to occupy the same place like the US. For Me Russia is just embarrasing me to keep all its wealth to its self . RUSSIA SHARE WITH THE POOR Then you will see the Glory.

William January 20, 2010, 03:19
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It isn't at all clear that more supplies will do much good until the distribution system can catch up with their rate of arrival, and owing to the violent chaos on the ground distribution centers require armed protection. For instance one method that is being used is positioning troops on the ground to secure an area and then the supplies are airdropped in and distributed safely and fairly. Put simply, troops are an essential element. Search teams and medical personnel are also essential. The French were annoyed, as I recall, because a field hospital of theirs was turned away a few days ago. Another complaint is that US citizens are given priority evacuation, over say Europeans who could transfer to a flight home from the states, owing to most of the planes being American and Obama ordering such. A disproportionate number of the non-American foreigners trying to get out are French. You've got us there, though I don't know what other shipments the French hospital was delayed for, so I can't judge whether that delay was the right decision. The US troops are, according to the UN, needed to keep order, and their mandate was yesterday authorized by the UN security council,, which of course includes Russia. The three main causes of death will be: people trapped under concrete who aren't found soon enough, people dying of lethal injuries, and people dehydrating to death. Efforts should focus on stopping those. andy, I think my favorite portrait of a rich man would be Warren Buffet. He was the richest man in the world in 2008, but he has lived off of a middle class income for his entire life. He is now giving his whole fortune to charity. He gave 30 billion dollars worth of assets to charity in 2006. Bill Gates, while not as admirable, has also given billions to charity. There is a lot of philanthropy out there, but there is even more greed.