Thousands Flee The Haitian Capital
Posted January 22, 2010 10:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Rescue crews have abandoned hope of finding any people alive under the rubble in Haiti and aid agencies are now fully focusing efforts on helping survivors suffering in squalid makeshift camps with poor sanitation as fears of disease escalate.
Hundreds of thousands of people are desperately trying to get out of Port-au-Prince, while foreign engineers begin the process of leveling land to make way for safe and clean tent cities for those who decide to remain in the capital.
Fritz Longchamp, the chief of staff to Haitian President Rene Preval, said he expects buses will start moving people to the new, temporary camps by the end of this month. The move will be voluntary.
According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, approximately 200,000 people have fled the Haitian capital and thousands more are planning to follow suit. The agency suggests about half of those people have moved to Gonaives.
The European Commission estimates that about 200,000 people lost their lives in the disaster, which has left approximately two million people homeless. The Jan. 12 earthquake prompted the greatest deployment of emergency responders in the Red Cross’ 91-year history.
As the Americans work to repair the Port-au-Prince harbour to speed up the delivery of aid, the Canadian military is set up in Jacmel, controlling the airspace and coordinating aid efforts. Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) is deployed in the area, as well.
And Canadian teams are also providing medical aid in Leogane.
Meanwhile, the federal government confirmed Friday the number of Canadians killed in Haiti has risen to 16. Another 306 are still missing.
The bodies of two RCMP officers killed in the earthquake, Sgt. Mark Gallagher and Supt. Doug Coates, are expected to arrive at CFB Trenton Friday. A ramp ceremony was held for the officers at the Port-au-Prince airport before their final journey home.
