These shocking aerial photos show the true extent of the devastation caused by the earthquake which ruined Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.
Survivors continue to be miraculously freed after over a week of being buried in the rubble, but how many more remain to be found alive? The catastrophe of the century can hardly be described with words.
Crazy children on the streets, mounds of corpses along the pavements. Houses, supermarkets and churches in ruins. Fear and chaos are now part of everyday life in this ruined country. Survivors fight for water, food and medication…
Satellite pictures from Google Maps now reveal the extent of the catastrophe. Click on the underlined links that are in red and see for yourself the extent of thehorror in Haiti. You can navigate and zoom within the map.
The President’s Palace has been destroyed; the UN headquarters have also been reduced to soot and ashes. The Haitian government can not operate properly as many officials have died. US soldiers are now rebuilding the infrastructure and are stationed at the Palace.
The US plans to deploy a further 4,000 soldiers. This will raise the number of US soldiers on land or ships in the harbour to 15,000. UN co-ordinator Holmes said that the focus of the relief workers’ work is with regards to distributing water and food. The aim remains to care for two million people for six months.
Survivors have built tent camps in front of the presidential palace – a picture that can be seen throughout Port-au-Prince. Every available space is being used. The survivors who have homes that haven’t been destroyed fear to return to them. The destruction is overwhelming in Rue Pavee in both the poor and well-off regions.
We see the picture of camps again being built in the open space and more people continually flooding into them along Route de Delmas and in the Sylvio Cator stadium in Rue O. Durand.
The main cemetery of Port-au-Prince has no more space for the dead – altogether a around 200,000 victims are feared dead; 80,000 have reportedly been buried so far, by pushing them into mass graves with diggers.
Relatives are burying their own family members, even in footpaths, they dig holes in the hard earth – they don’t know where else to bury their loved ones. Meanwhile the risk of disease increases – the odour of decay spreads around the devastated town.
The international airport of Port-au-Prince is the chokepoint for the urgently needed aid. The communications tower has been destroyed. US soldiers control the air traffic from laptops. Aid flights bring in medication, medical equipment and relief workers – although many still have to take the detour via the neighbouring Dominican Republic.
BILD and it's charity "Ein Herz für Kinder", which this week raised over 20 million Euros for the aid effort, are there, bringing over 100 tonnes of aid goods. Its partner Air Berlin has flown to the catastrophe region seven times.
But alongside the horror there are sparks of hope. On the seventh day after the earthquake, an old woman was saved from the ruins of a destroyed cathedral as well as a young woman from the remnants of a collapsed supermarket!
On the fourth day after the earthquake rescuers discovered a German hotel owner under the ruins of 'Hotel Montana'. So far 120 buried people have been pulled out of the ruins alive.
There are still four Germans missing.
Bild
