A devastating, magnitude-7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti yesterday, toppling buildings in the capital of Port-au-Prince and leaving trapped victims screaming for help as night fell.
It was impossible to get an accurate casualty count because the quake played havoc with communication — both land-line and mobile phones.
Karel Zelenka, a Catholic Relief Services worker in Port-au-Prince, described the scene as “total disaster and chaos.” She told colleagues, “There must be thousands of people dead.”
Tens of thousands were likely homeless.
Witnesses said the dead and injured lay in the street with many pleading for doctors.
But emergency services were in short supply.
“The hospitals cannot handle all these victims,” said Louis-Gerard Gilles, a doctor and former senator. “Haiti needs to pray. We all need to pray together.”
Many people did just that, as thousands gathered in public squares praying and singing.
But there were also reports of looting.
Felix Augustin, Haiti’s consul general in New York, said part of the presidential palace had been destroyed. But President Rene Preval. and his wife survived, according to Haiti’s ambassador to Mexico.
Numerous other government buildings, including Parliament, were damaged by the quake, centered only 10 miles from Port au-Prince.
Power outages were rampant.
It was the country’s strongest quake in more than 200 years.
An AP videographer said a hospital had collapsed in a section of Port-au-Prince home to many diplomats and wealthy Haitians.
The UN Mission in Haiti, which is headquarters for 9,000 peacekeeping troops, collapsed, said Alain LeRoy, who is in charge of the group’s efforts.
UN troops, mostly from Brazil, were trying to rescue people from the building, but “as we speak no one has been rescued from this main headquarters.” LeRoy said early today. It wasn’t known how many were inside.
“People were screaming, ‘Jesus! Jesus!’ and running in all directions, when the quake hit just before 5 p.m., Reuters reporter Joseph Guyler Delva said. “Houses started collapsing. It’s total chaos.”
President Obama pledged immediate aid.
The director of an aid organization said she believes at least two Americans were trapped under rubble at a mission house in Haiti.
Emily Smack, of Haitian Ministries for the Diocese of Norwich, Conn., identified them as Jillian Thorp, 24, and Charles Dietsch. Thorp is the daughter-in-law of retired Rear Adm. Frank Thorp, once the Navy’s chief spokesman.
The tragedy hit New York’s Haitian community hard as people burned up phone lines desperately trying to reach loved ones.
“I have lots of family in Haiti,” said Chantal Borgella, 23, of Livingston, NJ. “We haven’t had any contact with them since it happened. You just have to stay positive and keep it in God’s hands.”
Ricot Dupuy, a radio broadcaster whose station serves the Haitian community in Flatbush, said, “People just want to know the extent of the devastation. Do we still have a country?”
The State Department set up a hotline number for people with relatives in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747. With Post Wire Services