Haiti quake rescuers struggle against growing chaos

Desperately needed supplies and rescue workers started pouring into Haiti from around the world today but aid groups faced huge challenges trying to reach quake survivors.

Ship deliveries were impossible to Port-au-Prince because it was closed by damage. The airport was opened but struggled to handle a spate of flights carrying experts and aid.

Fearful of going near quake-damaged buildings, Haitians stood or rested in the roads, slowing the transport of food and other crucial aid.

“It’s chaos,” UN humanitarian spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said. “It’s a logistical nightmare.”

At the airport a lack of equipment meant it took six hours to unload the first plane in, a hint of possible bottlenecks ahead as a global response brought a stream of relief flights.

Amid the chaos the death toll was still unclear although US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was in the “tens of thousands”.

In the streets of the capital survivors set up camps amid piles of salvaged goods, including food scavenged from the rubble.

Bodies lay scattered, often covered by a white cloth. Some people dragged the dust-covered dead along the roads, trying to reach a hospital where they might leave them.

Trucks carrying police and UN workers were often stuck in traffic on roads filled with pickup trucks, cars and pedestrians.

At many collapsed buildings, neighbours and volunteers were excavating rubble without any official presence.

“This is much worse than a hurricane,” said Jimitre Coquillon, a doctor’s assistant working at a triage centre set up in a hotel parking lot. “There’s no water. There’s nothing. Thirsty people are going to die.”

Severe damage to at least eight Port-au-Prince hospitals made it nearly impossible to treat the thousands of injured or prevent outbreaks of disease, said the World Health Organization.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders treated wounded at two hospitals that withstood the quake and set up tent clinics elsewhere to replace its damaged facilities. Cuba, which already had more than 300 doctors in Haiti, treated injured people in field hospitals.

Survivors used sledgehammers and their bare hands to try to find victims in the rubble. In Petionville, next to the capital, people dug through a collapsed shopping centre, tossing aside mattresses and office supplies. More than a dozen cars were entombed, including a UN truck.

Nearby, about 200 survivors, including many children, huddled in a theatre parking lot using sheets to rig makeshift tents and shield themselves from the sun in 90-degree heat.

Police officers carried the injured in their pickup trucks.

Calls to emergency services were not getting through because systems that connect different phone networks were still not working.

About 3,000 police and international peacekeepers cleared debris, directed traffic and maintained security in the capital. But law enforcement was stretched thin even before the quake and would be ill-equipped to deal with major unrest.

The UN’s 9,000-member peacekeeping force sent patrols across the capital’s streets while securing the airport, port and main buildings.

Looting began immediately after the quake, with people carrying food from collapsed buildings, but aid workers said disturbances were rare.