Faithful attend religious services amid scenes of utter devastation

DRUMBEATS called the faithful to a Sunday Mass praising God amid a scene resembling the Apocalypse – a collapsed cathedral in a city cloaked with the smell of death, where aid is slow to reach survivors and rescue crews battle to pry anever-smaller number of the living from the ruins.

Sunlight streamed through what little was left of blown-out stained windows as the Rev Eric Toussaint preached to a small crowd of survivors. A rotting body lay in its main entrance.

“Why give thanks to God? Because we are here,” Rev Toussaint said. “We say ‘Thank you God.’ What happened is the will of God. We are in the hands of God now.”