/!Haiti Earthquake/!

[Qwerty]

Rescue teams who have been working around the clock to find the last survivors of the earthquake began winding down their operations in Port-au-Prince today as cries from the rubble turned silent.

While dozens of specialised search and rescue teams, who have pulled scores of people from beneath the rubble, will remain on standby in the shattered Haitian capital, they were reporting few alerts to indicate any more suspected survivors still alive and trapped beneath the fallen concrete.

A crew from California's Los Angeles county fire department clambered over a destroyed downtown apartment block in the slim hope that someone might be living beneath.

One of the crew's dogs seemed to have detected signs of life earlier in the day but two other dogs suggested there was nothing. "It's worth trying," said fireman Dennis Cross, his blue uniform coated in white dust. "Even when it seems it may be a long shot."

Other rescue teams took a chance to rest after over a week of frantic exertions. The focus was shifting, they said, from rescue to the recovery of bodies.

Fragments of normality resumed amid the chaos. In areas which escaped the devastation people washed cars with hoses, an unthinkable sight last week when people were desperate for water. Drinking water remains scarce. The damaged port partially reopened after structural engineers gave the green light for limited aid shipments.

Some money transfer offices reopened and were instantly besieged by hundreds of people hoping to collect cash sent by relatives overseas. A few homemade signs sprouted across the city: "God bless you came to help us." They remained heavily outnumbered by those pleading for help.

As the rescue effort was scaled back, the commander of US forces in the region said officials have opened a third alternative airport in the Dominican Republic, to hasten the movement of relief supplies in an attempt to clear the backlog of more than 1,400 flights waiting to use the Haitian capital's airport.

General Douglas Fraser, head of US Southern Command, told a Pentagon news conference that 120-140 flights a day are now able to land at what was the country's single airport in Port-au-Prince, which was damaged in last week's earthquake.

The latest efforts to speed the flow of aid came as the remains of Hedi Annabi, the UN mission chief in Haiti, killed in last week's earthquake, were returned to his native Tunisia and received with military honours.

It also came as medical clinics warned that they have 12-day patient backlogs and that injuries left untreated in makeshift camps housing thousands of survivors risked fostering disease.

"The next health risk could include outbreaks of diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections and other diseases among hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in overcrowded camps with poor or nonexistent sanitation," said Dr Greg Elder, deputy operations manager for Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.

The death toll is estimated at 200,000, according to Haitian government figures relayed by the European Commission, with 80,000 buried in mass graves. The commission now estimates that 2 million are homeless, up from 1.5 million, and says 250,000 are in need of urgent aid.



Please post your Haiti articles down below.

[Linky]

Nice article!
I don't have one yet.

~Linky

[Qwerty]

It's a terrible thing that happened.

[Linky]

I know.
I feel sorry for those people.

~Linky

[Qwerty]

If you've seen the pictures, then they're even worse!

[Ghost]

I have seen some its very bad, terrible thing to happen.

[Qwerty]

Do you know what is so friggin weird? When my science class started learning about earthquakes, that earthquake happened. WEIRD!

[powdersnow]

Do you know what is so friggin weird? When my science class started learning about earthquakes, that earthquake happened. WEIRD!

Freaky...In so many ways.

[Qwerty]

Ya, sad, but freaky.

[powdersnow]

Well, it would be more sa-ish if your family member was there.

[Qwerty]

Oh no, were any of yours?

[powdersnow]

No, and thank god.

[Qwerty]

Ok, that's good. That scared me for a minute.

[powdersnow]

Lol, But its quite sad, VARY sad.

[Abiohazard]

Haiti Images

I know this is in another language, but pictures are worth a thousand words. Please be aware that some of these pictures may be emotionally disturbing to you. Use your own discretion.

[Ghost]

Thanks god nobody from the family was there, but its sad to see those people there without their homes and stuff.

[Qwerty]

RIP all of the 100,000+ people that were killed. v.v

[Chainfull]

It's horrible.

I hate all those commercials though. I enjoy seeing dead bodies :\.

[Qwerty]

Holy crap, you ENJOY it?

[BrickMaster]

That's just disgusting...


You find it amusing that all those poor people have died?


I feel so sorry for them, I'm keeping them in my prayers.

[redjury]

My school raised 2300 dollars for haiti

[Qwerty]

My school has 5963 dollars so far.

[Abiohazard]

We have like $3000.

[Qwerty]

That's very good for you guys!

[Abiohazard]

Some kid in Europe raised like 100,000 Euros.

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