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Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 | Posted by Editor - Blog News Service

Fears of a mounting death toll are growing in Haiti after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake

Haiti after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake

Haiti after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake

Fears of a mounting death toll are growing in Haiti after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the impoverished Caribbean nation this morning.

Dawn will break in a few hours in the capital, Port-au-Prince, shedding more light on the extent of the death and destruction.

The US State Department says it fears there has been a “serious loss of life”, while looting has begun in many parts of the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.

There are reports of at least 200 people missing from one hotel alone, known to be popular with foreigners.

Many residents of the capital are wandering the streets, too scared to take shelter after at least 24 aftershocks rocked the city, where many homes are built into a hillside.

Experts are warning the tremors could continue for weeks, even months.

Bodies are lying in the streets and images from the disaster zone show crumbled buildings and crushed cars.

A representative from Catholic Relief Services in Port-au-Prince told an American counterpart “there must be thousands of people dead”, before his phone line was cut.

The presidential palace and the headquarters of a United Nations mission collapsed during the quake, along with an untold number of houses, shops and other buildings.

UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy says a large number of UN personnel are unaccounted for.

French Secretary of State Alain Joyandet says at least 200 people are missing from the Hotel Montana, which collapsed in the quake.

“We know there were 300 people inside the hotel when it collapsed. Only around 100 have got out, which greatly concerns us,” he said.

“The Hotel Montana (is) where tourists stay and French nationals working in Haiti stay.”

Australians missing

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says it is trying to locate a number of Australians believed to be in the area.

DFAT says it has made contact with nine Australians so far.

An Australian charity that helps disabled people in poor countries says it is concerned about its workers in Haiti.

Heath McSolvin of CBM Australia says it is trying to make contact with them.

“They will just try to get on to the phones, get in touch with the people on the ground, just take an assessment of the well being of our staff [and] certainly of the well being of the people that we help in the area,” he said.

Haiti’s Ambassador to the US, Raymond Joseph, is describing the situation as a “catastrophe”.

He says communications are very difficult, but one government official has told him that the damage is extensive.

“Buildings started to collapse around him right and left and he had to leave his car, park it and take to the streets,” he said.

“And at that point I was able to get him on his cell. He said, ‘Mr Ambassador, tell the world it is a major catastrophe of major proportions’.”

Cries for help

Australian man Ian Rodgers, the emergency adviser for Save the Children in Port-au-Prince, says none of the aid agency’s staff have been injured.

“Around our compound, multi-storey houses have fallen down and slid down hills and mountain sides. All of the roads at the moment are blocked,” he said.

He says he can hear people pleading for help.

“What I can hear is very distressed people all around in the neighbourhoods that we are in,” he said.

“There are a lot of distressed people and wailing of people trying to find loved ones who are trapped under buildings and rubble,” he said.

The United States is rushing search and rescue teams to Haiti.

The US Agency for International Development says it is sending 72 staff, six search and rescue dogs and up to 48 tonnes of rescue equipment.

President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are offering America’s help.

“We will be providing both civilian and military disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, and our prayers are with the people who have suffered, their families and their loved ones,” Ms Clinton said.

Nan Buzard of the American Red Cross International Disaster Response says the first 24 to 48 hours following the disaster are crucial.

“It’s going to take time to get rescue teams in there. Most of the work is going to be done by locals who are not going to have heavy earthmoving or concrete-moving equipment,” she said.

“So actually extracting people out of the debris is going to be a big struggle.”

The epicentre of the quake was located inland, just 16 kilometres from the capital, and was a shallow 10km deep, intensifying its impact.

Seventy per cent of Haiti’s population lives on less than $2 a day and half of the country’s almost nine million people are unemployed.

Haiti factbox

* Population: 10 million (UN, 2009)
* Capital: Port-au-Prince
* Area: 27,750 sq km (10,714 sq miles)
* Major languages: Creole, French
* Major religion: Christianity
* Life expectancy: 59 (men), 63 (women) (UN)
* Monetary unit: 1 gourde = 100 centimes
* Main exports: Light manufactures, coffee, oils, mangoes
* GNI per capita: US $660 (World Bank, 2008)

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