Haiti death toll may be as high as 200,000
Worst-ever disaster facing UN
THE earthquake in Haiti is the worst disaster ever confronted by the United Nations, a spokeswoman says, pointing out that the catastrophe has left affected regions with little infrastructure.
Tensions rose among desperate Haitians awaiting international aid and hunting for missing relatives today as aid begins to trickle in four days after an earthquake that Haitian authorities say killed 200,000 people.
Haiti's shell-shocked government gave the United States control over its main airport to bring order to aid and food flights from around the world and speed relief to the impoverished Caribbean nation.
Trucks piled with corpses have been carrying bodies to hurriedly excavated mass graves outside the city, but thousands of bodies still are believed buried under rubble.
"We have already collected around 50,000 dead bodies," Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime said.
Tensions rose among desperate Haitians awaiting international aid and hunting for missing relatives today as aid begins to trickle in four days after an earthquake that Haitian authorities say killed 200,000 people.
Haiti's shell-shocked government gave the United States control over its main airport to bring order to aid and food flights from around the world and speed relief to the impoverished Caribbean nation.
Trucks piled with corpses have been carrying bodies to hurriedly excavated mass graves outside the city, but thousands of bodies still are believed buried under rubble.
"We have already collected around 50,000 dead bodies," Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime said.
A UN spokesperson said the quake in Haiti is the "worst disaster ever" confronted by the United Nations
"This is a historic disaster. We have never been confronted with such a disaster in the UN memory. It is like no other,'' Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said.
She noted that at least local government structures remained after the 2004 tsunami hit Indonesia's Aceh province, but in Haiti, the town of Leogane, for example, had lost all its public services in the earthquake.
The earthquake "has decapitated the city'', said Ms Byrs.
Ms Byrs had earlier said that a UN assessment team surveying towns to the west of Port-au-Prince found that up to 90 per cent of the buildings in Leogane were damaged or destroyed by Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude quake.
"No local government infrastructure remains,'' she said. LinkHere
"This is a historic disaster. We have never been confronted with such a disaster in the UN memory. It is like no other,'' Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said.
She noted that at least local government structures remained after the 2004 tsunami hit Indonesia's Aceh province, but in Haiti, the town of Leogane, for example, had lost all its public services in the earthquake.
The earthquake "has decapitated the city'', said Ms Byrs.
Ms Byrs had earlier said that a UN assessment team surveying towns to the west of Port-au-Prince found that up to 90 per cent of the buildings in Leogane were damaged or destroyed by Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude quake.
"No local government infrastructure remains,'' she said. LinkHere
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 5:23 PM
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