Prayers of thanksgiving and cries for help rose from Haiti's huddled homeless, the sixth day of an epic humanitarian crisis that was straining the world's ability to respond and igniting flare-ups of violence amid the rubble of Port-au-Prince.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton flew into the Haitian capital today to confer with President Rene Preval and receive an update on earthquake relief efforts.

Haitian President Rene Preval today implored the international community to better co-ordinate the massive aid effort for his country and not to squabble over how to provide it.

Pushed to the far edge of desperation, earthquake-ravaged Haitians dumped decaying bodies into mass graves and begged for water and food amid fears that time is running out to avoid chaos and to rescue anyone still alive in the wreckage.