PORT AU PRINCE, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- As rescue efforts
started in the disaster-hit Port-au-Prince on Thursday, casualties of Haiti's
devastating earthquake remained difficult to anticipate.
In the streets of the massively-damaged capital, fearing possible
aftershocks, some survivors set up camps while others prepared to
stay up through the dark night.
A doctor of the Chinese emergency rescue
team treats an injured child in Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti, Jan. 14,
2010. The Chinese emergency rescue team arrived in Port-au-Prince early
Thursday local time, to help the rescue operation after an earthquake in
which tens of thousands of people are feared dead. (Xinhua
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
Tons of medicines, food and shelters as well as teams
of rescuers from China, France and Spain are beginning to land at the still
functional airport in the city of Port-au-Prince.
The Chinese international search and rescue team,
which comprises 50 members, has arrived at the airport of the heavily damaged
capital of the Caribbean country, where it was immediately split into two units.
Of the two units, one was sent to the hardest-hit
downtown area of the city for search and rescue while the other unit was
missioned to set up communication and logistic equipment at the place where
Chinese peacekeepers in Haiti are stationed.
The Chinese rescuers are now working against the
extreme difficult circumstances of crumbeld walls and twisted steel bars at the
used-to-be U.N. headquarters in Haiti, seeking traces of any possible survivors.
Three French planes
are to evacuate around 60 injured people to hospitals in the Caribbean
islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.
Chinese emergency rescue team members
set up maritime satellite after arriving at the airport in Haitian capital
Port-au-Prince on Jan. 14, 2010. The rescue team arrived here early
Thursday local time, to help the rescue operation after an earthquake in
which up to 100,000 people are feared dead and eight Chinese are still
missing.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Meanwhile, many more countries have reached out their
helping hands, either in direct donations or sending additional assistance
goods.
The Japanese government has decided on Thursday to
donate 5 million U.S. dollars to Haiti for emergency disaster relief, plus some
other aid such as tenets worth about 330,000 dollars. It also sent a search and
rescue team, announced Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano.
Britain on Thursday announced an aid package of 6.15
million pounds (10 million dollars) to the quake-ravaged country in the
Caribbean.
Additionally, a team of 75 rescuers and emergency
assessment personnel were due in Port-au-Prince during the day to help with the
rescue efforts.
India was also ready to give 1 million dollars to
help Haiti coping with the disaster, an Indian External Affairs Ministry
statement said on Thursday.
The United States will send 300 medical professionals to Haiti and
3,500 troops on Thursday to Haiti for disaster relief and security,
U.S. Army sources said.
People walk past rubbles in
Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti, Jan. 14, 2010. (Xinhua
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
The International Monetary Fund will provide 100
million dollars of aid to Haiti, IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Thursday.
While constant flow of assistance is pouring into the
Haitian capital, it is still unclear and difficult to estimate the causalities
of the magnitude-7.3 earthquake.
"Let's say that it's too early to give a number,"
said the Haitian President Rene Preval.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also said
it's still too early to make a firm estimate of the number of deaths in the wake
of Tuesday's devastating earthquake.
"Haiti has been devastated by this earthquake," said
the chief U.S. diplomat, "It is beyond our comprehension."
A senior Haitian Red Cross official said the death
toll could be between 45,000 and 50,000, with a further 3 million affected.
Brazilian military sources said on Thursday that 14
Brazilian peacekeepers lost their lives in the earthquake, revising the previous
number of 11. Another 12 badly-wounded soldiers will be brought back to Brazil
for medical treatment, the sources added.
More than 100 U.N. staff members are believed to
remain missing after the strong quake on Tuesday, a United Nations spokeswoman
said Thursday.
"Over 100 people are unaccounted for," said Elisabeth
Byrs, spokeswoman of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs.
