海地民眾試圖赤手空拳在瓦礫中挖掘﹐救出被困者﹐這個貧困的加勒比海國家遭遇兩百年來最嚴重的地震。從貧民窟到總統府﹐數千幢建築毀於一旦﹐街道被廢墟阻斷無法通行﹐電話服務中斷。與此同時﹐世界各國紛紛伸出援手。
聯合國秘書長潘基文(Ban Ki-moon)對記者說﹐一支中國救援隊伍和美國的兩支救援隊伍應當會在週三晚間到達。他說﹐聯合國將協調未來幾天抵達的各國救援隊伍的行動。
聯合國負責協調救助行動的霍爾姆斯(John Holmes)說﹐法國、多米尼加共和國、瓜德羅普和其他國家也向海地首都發送了救濟品。
海地總理貝勒里夫（Jean Max Bellerive）對CNN和路透(Reuters)說﹐死亡人數可能超過10萬人。
美國紅十字會(American Red Cross)負責人馬里克(Matthew Marek)說﹐他預計死亡人數會很高。他說﹐跟這次地震比﹐2008年襲擊海地的一系列颶風簡直像小孩子的把戲。
散 佈於美國和其他國家的許多海地人瘋狂地試圖與親人聯繫。從海地派駐蒙特利爾的Monique Cenecharles試圖與在太子港當工程師的丈夫Nikenson取得聯繫。兩人最後一次通話是週二晚上在線聊天﹐就在地震發生幾分鐘之前。 Cenecharles說﹐他說他得去上英語課了﹐我跟他說了再見﹐還說我愛你。
Cenecharles自此就無法聯繫到丈夫了﹐無論是通過網絡、電話還是尋親問友。她說﹐她還在找在太子港的三位姨媽和兩個叔叔。週三早上﹐她收到太子港一個受傷的侄子的照片。她說﹐我看著那張照片﹐我侄子躺在地上無人照管。她表示﹐不知道侄子能否得到醫護。
地震發生當天晚上和週三凌晨﹐全城到處都能聽到建築物倒塌的轟鳴聲。餘震也不時重新激起人們的恐慌。
隨 著遇難者屍體在城市街道上越堆越高﹐居民們開始擔心未來的日子如何生存。在Jean Paul II大道倒塌的Twins市場外﹐人們拿著五加侖的桶裝水、一盒盒玉米片、可口可樂以及其他供給品。由於爭搶供給品而引發了一場小沖突。街上的一名男子朝 記者喊道﹐喂﹐老外﹐我們都要死了。
對傷者來說﹐最要命的是市內幾家醫院都嚴重損毀﹐限制了得到治療的機會。無國界醫生組織 (Doctors Without Borders)稱﹐其在海地的三家醫院無法使用。馬里克和其他紅十字會成員向臨時住所里的數百名受傷居民提供了急救。臨時住所建在Croix de Prez區的紅十字會辦公室後面的山上。
馬里克和幾位紅十字會成員只能試著用幾瓶消毒劑、紗布和繃帶處理十分嚴重的傷口﹐包括頭部或四肢殘損的傷者。
Pooja Bhatia
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DEC's Haiti earthquake appeal nets £12m
 A British Airways Boeing 747 was altered to allow more space for aid |
The scenes of devastation which have followed Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti have led to people in the UK giving £12m to the official relief fund.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he had been "humbled" by the generosity shown by those who had donated money.
UK airlines are transporting aid to the Caribbean nation, with British Airways taking supplies and Virgin Atlantic carrying medics and rescuers.
Some British citizens are unaccounted for, the UK's ambassador in Haiti said.
Efforts were continuing to contact them, Steven Fisher added.
 | EYEWITNESS  The BBC's Sophie Hutchinson in London: Around 100 people, most from different African and Caribbean nations, and journalists packed Southwark Town Hall in south London for the launch of the Haiti appeal. The charity United Haitians in the United Kingdom asked for donations of clothes, medicine and money. In amongst the crowd there were perhaps just a dozen Haitians present, reflecting the tiny size of the community in Britain. One of the few, a young teacher from Southampton, beamed a jubilant smile as he told me after days of waiting he'd received a text message. It had come just minutes ago from an uncle in Haiti and said his family had survived. "That's… a big relief for me, to be able to hear from them," he said, and commented he'd definitely sleep much better tonight. But another, a tall young woman, just shook her head, barely able to speak. "It's bad news," she said. "Bad news." |
Appeals have been broadcast on TV and radio by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which brings together 13 major British-based charities.
The funds it raises will be spent on search-and-rescue operations, medical care, food, clean water, clothes and temporary shelter.
Airlines have converted passenger planes so they can carry more cargo to the Caribbean nation, where the 7.0-magnitude earthquake has killed tens of thousands of people.
A British Airways Boeing 747 took off from London's Heathrow Airport on Saturday morning, bound for Haiti's neighbouring country, the Dominican Republic.
Seats were removed from the economy-class cabin so water containers, purification equipment and pumps could be stored there.
The company has also pledged £300,000 from its Unicef Change for Good programme, plus the £250,000 cost of the plane and its fuel.
Virgin Atlantic sent an airliner carrying aid and medical personnel to Miami, with further flights bound for Orlando and Jamaica due to leave in the coming days.
'Harrowing scenes'
The prime minister said it was "extraordinary" that so much money had been donated to the appeal in such a short time.
"The generosity of people's spirit, our willingness to give even when some people have so little to give, humbles me," he told a meeting in London.
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The DEC appeal for victims of the earthquake in Haiti
The international development minister, Mike Foster, said people had "responded magnificently".
"I think the very harrowing scenes on the ground that come through, being broadcast through people's TV screens, bring it home to individuals just the sheer scale of disaster that the people of Haiti are suffering," he told BBC News.
"Any natural disaster on that scale, I think, will bring the best out of people."
A special televised appeal for the DEC was broadcast on Friday evening on BBC One and ITV1.
Separately, the government has allocated £2m to deal with "logistical problems" on the ground in Haiti, such as the provision of cars and lorries to distribute aid, and to improve communications links.
|  Ann Barnes, 59, is originally from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex  |
Mr Fisher, the UK's ambassador for Haiti and the Dominican Republic, described the situation in Port-au-Prince as "horrific" and said there was "concern" about the safety of aid workers.
"There are people out there who want water and food, and if they perceive that a United Nations lorry is carrying food, then of course you could expect it to be attacked."
He said there was evidence of aid reaching people but "clearly not as much as everyone would like".
"It's a huge, huge challenge for the international community to marshal all this aid," he told BBC News.
"The question is how to deliver it."
Girl found alive
It was unclear exactly how many Britons remained unaccounted for in Haiti.
The Foreign Office said 30 had been found safe and well, although one UK woman - Ann Barnes, originally from Leigh-on-Sea in Essex - is known to be missing.
The 59-year-old personal assistant to the UN police commissioner in Haiti has not been heard of since the UN's headquarters collapsed on Tuesday.
| DEC APPEAL  The Disasters Emergency Committee is co-ordinating an appeal to help the people of Haiti There are 13 charities involved including the British Red Cross, Islamic Relief and World Vision Donate via the DEC website or by telephoning 0370 60 60 900 |
A 71-strong British search-and-rescue team has flown to the region, and includes a number of firefighters and two search dogs.
They found a two-year-old girl alive in the rubble of a nursery.
And they rescued a man aged 55 from a collapsed supermarket and a 39-year-old woman who had been in a block of flats.
Meanwhile the organisation United Haitians in the UK asked for donations of clothes, medicine and money.
It held a meeting in London attended by some of those whose relatives were missing or displaced.
"I've been calling, trying to call on the internet and in e-mails, and I've got nowhere," said Nadege Attis, whose boyfriend is missing.
"I've decided it's better for me to go there, and find any ways I can to go there," she told BBC News. "I can't keep waiting."
She said she had been regularly sending messages to relatives and friends in Haiti but "obviously they don't have electricity so there's no way they're going to have access to e-mails".
The Red Cross has set up a website to help people abroad to try to contact their relatives. A similar site has been created by two Haitians in the US.
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