An epic disaster, so many dead from a country with a population of just around 10 million.
… Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) – Hundreds of thousands of people have died in Haiti’s earthquake, the prime minister told CNN Wednesday.
Haitian authorities said the powerful quake destroyed most of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. A top envoy called it a “major catastrophe.”
Haiti’s first lady, Elisabeth Debrosse Delatour, reported that “most of Port-au-Prince is destroyed” and that many government buildings had collapsed, Haiti’s ambassador to the United States, Raymond Joseph, told CNN Wednesday morning. Delatour said President René Préval was all right, Joseph reported.
Rescue crews were racing Wednesday morning to fully assess the damage in the teeming hillside city, where toppled buildings killed and injured an untold number of people and trapped others in the rubble.
The U.S. State Department has been told to expect “serious loss of life,” spokesman P.J. Crowley said, though precise casualty estimates were not immediately available.
About 3 million people – one-third of Haiti’s population – were affected by the quake, the Red Cross estimated.
Authorities braced for civil disturbances.
Edmond Mulet, the U.N. assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, told CNN that the National Penitentiary collapsed and the inmates escaped, prompting worries about looting by escapees.
President Obama pledged Wednesday that the U.S. government would lead “a swift, coordinated and aggressive effort to save lives” in Haiti after the earthquake.
“For a country and a people who are no strangers to hardship and suffering, this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible,” he said.
The president noted that “military overflights have assessed the damage” from the earthquake and that civilian disaster assistance team were beginning to arrive in Haiti.
Re: Hundreds of thousands dead in Haiti quake, PM says
I think it is most unfortunate. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere so the toll- both financial and human- will seem even more catastrophic. I am hoping though at least the human toll is not as high as some people are speculating.
It is really a tragedy. :(
Re: Hundreds of thousands dead in Haiti quake, PM says
Haiti: Some Ways To Help
– The State Department’s DipNote blog writes that “for those interesting in helping immediately, simply text ‘HAITI’ to ‘90999’ and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill. Or you can go online to organizations like the Red Cross and Mercy Corps Mercy Corps to make a contribution to the disaster relief efforts.”
– Musician Wyclef Jean, who’s from Haiti, says if you text “Yele” to 501501, you’ll automatically be donating $5 to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund. The charge will show up on your phone bill. You can find out more about Yele here.
Re: Hundreds of thousands dead in Haiti quake, PM says
Thanks for the detailed post UTD :k:
I just came online to post a link for donations to Haiti earthquake response for direct relief international (which is listed in the links on CBSNews.com)…awesome charity, with 100% of the donations received used for the selected program, and none for the administrative costs etc…
Very tragic. I hope the world spares no effort to help them out.
While US gave $100 million, Canada gave $5 million plus 50 more million to come, China and India both gave a measly $1 million each. Even Guyana and Estonia gave that much.
Re: Hundreds of thousands dead in Haiti quake, PM says
I heard on radio that the death toll may be somewhere around 150,000.
That's horrible for a small country.
People need help like right NOW! But the port is badly damaged, and airport is very small. So while a lot of help is on the way, it is not able to reach people quickly.
Re: Hundreds of thousands dead in Haiti quake, PM says
Anybody know how much Pakistan contributed? Our little province of Quebec (7 million population) gave $3 million and China the economic superpower gives $1 million!