Haiti's government has declared the search and rescue phase for survivors of the earthquake over, the United Nations announced today, saying there is little hope of finding more people alive 11 days after much of the capital was reduced to rubble.
The statement from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs came a day after an Israeli team reported pulling a man out of the debris of a two-story home and relatives said an elderly woman had been rescued. Experts say the chance of saving trapped people begins diminishing after 72 hours, but one mother still missing her children said it's too soon to give up.
"Maybe there's a chance they're still alive," said Nicole Abraham, 33, wiping away tears as she spoke of hearing the cries of her children - ages 4, 6 and 15 - for the first two days after the January 12 quake.
Meanwhile Saturday, mourners gathered near the ruins of the shattered cathedral to pay final respects to the capital's archbishop and a vicar in a somber ceremony that doubled as a symbolic funeral for all the dead.
"I came here to pay my respects to all the dead from the earthquake, and to see them have a funeral," said Esther Belizaire, 51, whose cousin is among the dead.
The 7.0-magnitude quake killed an estimated 200,000 people, according to Haitian government figures cited by the European Commission.
Countless dead remain buried in thousands of collapsed and toppled buildings in Port-au-Prince, while as many as 200,000 have fled the city of 2 million, the US Agency for International Development reported. With the local government essentially incapacitated, the UN has co-ordinated rescue efforts alongside the US and teams from around the world. Spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said the Friday afternoon decision does not mean rescue teams still searching for survivors would be stopped from carrying out whatever work they felt necessary.
"It doesn't mean the government will order them to stop. In case there is the slightest sign of life, they will act," Byrs told The Associated Press. She added, however, that "except for miracles, hope is unfortunately fading."
All told, some 132 people were pulled alive from beneath collapsed buildings by international search and rescue teams since the January 12 disaster, she said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said today no decision had yet been taken to halt their search and rescue operations a day after they saved a 21-year-old man who survived in part by drinking his own urine.
With the rainy season on the way, UN relief workers are concerned that many Haitians are still homeless and Byers said the focus now will be squarely on providing shelter and medical treatment. About 609,000 people are homeless in the capital's metropolitan area, and the United Nations estimates that up to 1 million could leave Haiti's destroyed cities for rural areas already struggling with extreme poverty.
On Saturday morning, more than 1,000 people, many weeping and clutching handkerchiefs, gathered in a small park for the funerals of Msgr. Joseph Serge Miot, the archbishop of Port-au-Prince, and the vicar Charles Benoit. Classical music wafted over their two closed white caskets covered with flowers.
"This is for everyone," Cleopas Auza said of the ceremony before it began. Nepthalie Miot, a niece of the archbishop, choked back tears as she described the man who would have worked to comfort the nation after the disaster had he not been killed himself.
"He was a very compassionate person. He tried to help the poor," she told the crowd, which included President Rene Preval, New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan and the Vatican's ambassador to Haiti, Archbishop Bernadito Cleopas Auza.
Only a small number of funerals have been held since the quake, with most people buried anonymously and without ceremony in mass graves on the outskirts of the city, or burned in the streets.
"The hardest thing for us is the smell of all the dead bodies," said Josette Elisias, 45, wearing a red handkerchief to cover her nose and mouth on Saturday as workers cleared rubble and debris from streets with brooms, rakes and wheelbarrows.
Scores of aid organisations, big and small, have stepped up deliveries of food, water, medical supplies and other aid to the homeless and other needy in seaside city.
In the US, celebrities and artists made impassioned pleas for charitable donations during an internationally broadcast telethon Friday night.
"The Haitian people need our help," said actor George Clooney, who helped organise the two-hour telecast.
"They need to know that they are not alone. They need to know that we still care."
More than a dozen Latin pop stars including Shakira, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Paulina Rubio, Daddy Yankee and Juanes were to appear Saturday on a special live edition of a popular Univision variety show to raise money for the American Red Cross to help aid earthquake victims.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
