Rescue efforts abandoned as the focus turns to desperate survivors

UN-led teams in Haiti yesterday switched their focus away from searching for people trapped in collapsed buildings to providing aid to hundreds of thousands of increasingly desperate survivors.

More than 10 days after the devastating 7.0-magnitude quake, which killed at least 75,000 people and left a million homeless, the UN said some rescue teams were “exhausted” and “starting to go home”.

“The rescue teams are concentrating more and more on humanitarian aid for those who need it,” said Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).