Deteriorating security situation casts heavy shadow over relief efforts
Image taken with a mobile device shows a damaged building after the earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, on Aug. 15, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)
Tensions in Haiti were rising on Saturday over a lack of aid to remote areas hardest hit by last week’s devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people in the impoverished Caribbean country.
Many Haitians whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed by the 7.2-magnitude quake that struck on August 14 said they were unsure how to even start rebuilding.
Exasperation over the time it is taking for aid to come through began to boil over on Friday, with residents attacking aid trucks in several towns across the south of the nation.
A confrontation also erupted after former president Michel Martelly visited a hospital in the city of Les Cayes, where one of his staff left behind an envelope of money that set off a violent scramble.
Another food delivery was cut short on Saturday afternoon at a church near Les Cayes’ airport after a frustrated crowd turned hostile, prompting aid workers to abort the operation.
“We are concerned about the deteriorating security situation that may disrupt our assistance to vulnerable Haitians,” said Pierre Honnorat, head of the UN World Food Programme in Haiti.
The official death toll from the earthquake stands at 2,189 people, with an estimated 332 people still missing.
Residents in towns across the southern rural countryside are still digging for bodies believed to lie underneath the rubble.
On Saturday morning, Haitian and Mexican rescue workers carefully removed layers of concrete debris from a collapsed house in Les Cayes in search of a person who might still be alive a full week after the quake.
On Friday night, the team made an unlikely discovery using sonar equipment that showed signs of possible respiration or movement.
“We’re hoping for a miracle,” said Luis Alva, one of the Mexican rescue workers with Rescate Internacional Topos.
Tens of thousands of homes are in ruins, leaving many families with no option but to sleep outside despite torrential downpours at night.
The hurricane season in the Caribbean runs until the end of November, and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has warned residents to brace for more storms.
Several countries, including the US, have already dispatched aid and rescue teams.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Twitter that the USS Arlington naval vessel was heading to Haiti carrying helicopters, a surgical team and a landing craft to assist in the relief effort.
Reuters
