A devastating 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti on Tuesday, crippling the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and causing an estimated tens of thousands of deaths.
The exact number of deaths is still unclear as Haiti’s citizens and relief forces are struggling to find survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings.
“As you can imagine we all here have friends and family we try to get in touch with. We couldn’t find anybody. No communication, no telephone,” said Jean-Sebastien Riche, a vice-consul of trade at the Haiti Consulate in New York.
“It is very, very sad for everybody,” said Riche. “We have news about friends or family that could be victims.”
Many of Haiti’s communication channels broke down on Tuesday as a result of the quake. Most of the major roads in Port-au-Prince have been damaged. Basic facilities such as electricity and water supply have almost all collapsed, according to the United Nations.
“All the time people were in the streets praying, saying ‘God, God, God,’ asking for mercy” at the time of the quake and aftershocks, said Riche.
The three large hospitals in Port-au-prince are “gone,” said Felix Augustin, Consul General of the Haiti consulate at a press conference.
“We need medical supplies, we need heavy equipment, we need doctors, we need people in the medical field to go to Haiti as soon as possible,” Augustin said.
“We see open fractures—head injuries. The problem is that we cannot forward people to proper surgery at this stage,” said a Medicine Sans Frontier coordinator in Haiti, Hans van Dillen, in a press release.
MSF teams already present in Haiti for other medical projects have set up clinics and tents to replace damaged medical facilities. An additional 70 doctors are expected to arrive in the coming days.
Besides private residences and buildings the national palace, the National Assembly building and the U.N. headquarters in Haiti, fifteen U.N. staff have been confirmed killed. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said on Wednesday that $10 million has been made available for relief.
Thousands of people live on the streets as they don’t have anywhere else to go or are afraid to return to their homes.
Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. It was hit with several hurricanes in 2008, and has yet to fully recover when hit by Tuesday’s massive earthquake.
One of the main concerns at this moment is security said Jean-Sebastien Riche. “For most of the houses there are no more fences, no more gates,” he said.
“I have heard that all the prisoners of the main prison in fort prince just escaped. But that needs to be confirmed,” he said.
Other main concerns at the moment are food and water. Water has been contaminated and food supplies
are short as many supermarkets have been collapsed, he said.
The exact number of deaths is still unclear as Haiti’s citizens and relief forces are struggling to find survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings.
“As you can imagine we all here have friends and family we try to get in touch with. We couldn’t find anybody. No communication, no telephone,” said Jean-Sebastien Riche, a vice-consul of trade at the Haiti Consulate in New York.
“It is very, very sad for everybody,” said Riche. “We have news about friends or family that could be victims.”
Many of Haiti’s communication channels broke down on Tuesday as a result of the quake. Most of the major roads in Port-au-Prince have been damaged. Basic facilities such as electricity and water supply have almost all collapsed, according to the United Nations.
“All the time people were in the streets praying, saying ‘God, God, God,’ asking for mercy” at the time of the quake and aftershocks, said Riche.
The three large hospitals in Port-au-prince are “gone,” said Felix Augustin, Consul General of the Haiti consulate at a press conference.
“We need medical supplies, we need heavy equipment, we need doctors, we need people in the medical field to go to Haiti as soon as possible,” Augustin said.
“We see open fractures—head injuries. The problem is that we cannot forward people to proper surgery at this stage,” said a Medicine Sans Frontier coordinator in Haiti, Hans van Dillen, in a press release.
MSF teams already present in Haiti for other medical projects have set up clinics and tents to replace damaged medical facilities. An additional 70 doctors are expected to arrive in the coming days.
Besides private residences and buildings the national palace, the National Assembly building and the U.N. headquarters in Haiti, fifteen U.N. staff have been confirmed killed. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said on Wednesday that $10 million has been made available for relief.
Thousands of people live on the streets as they don’t have anywhere else to go or are afraid to return to their homes.
Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. It was hit with several hurricanes in 2008, and has yet to fully recover when hit by Tuesday’s massive earthquake.
One of the main concerns at this moment is security said Jean-Sebastien Riche. “For most of the houses there are no more fences, no more gates,” he said.
“I have heard that all the prisoners of the main prison in fort prince just escaped. But that needs to be confirmed,” he said.
Other main concerns at the moment are food and water. Water has been contaminated and food supplies
are short as many supermarkets have been collapsed, he said.
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