Survivors Fight for Food in Haiti

President Barack Obama on Saturday declared one of the largest relief efforts in U.S. history to help Haiti's earthquake victims as survivors begged for aid still only trickling through to them and looters fought in the streets.

Four days after a massive quake killed up to 200,000 people and wrecked most of the capital Port-au-Prince, hundreds of thousands of Haitians were still desperately waiting for assistance as scavengers and looters preyed on shattered buildings in the widespread absence of authority and order.

Even as aid poured into Port-au-Prince airport on Saturday, thousands of Haitians streamed out on foot with suitcases on their heads or jammed in cars to find food, water and shelter in the countryside and flee aftershocks as well as violence.

Logistical logjams still kept major relief from reaching most victims, many of them sheltering in makeshift camps on streets strewn with debris and decomposing bodies.

On the city's shattered main commercial boulevard near the port, hundreds of scavengers and looters swarmed over the wrecks of shops, carrying off anything they could find and occasionally fighting among themselves for a prized item.

They carried stones, knives, ice-picks and hammers, as much to defend themselves as to break into wrecked premises and slash open boxes to grab T-shirts, bags, toys and other items.

Obama promised help as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flew to Haiti where the shell-shocked government gave the United States control over its main airport to guide aid flights from around the world.

With the government saying up to 200,000 people may have been killed, the quake could be one of the ten deadliest in history.

"We're moving forward with one of the largest relief efforts in our history to save lives and deliver relief that averts an even larger catastrophe," Obama said on Saturday, flanked by his predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton who will lead a charity drive to help Haiti.

But on the streets of the city, where scarce police patrols fired occasional shots and tear gas to try to disperse looters, the distribution of aid appeared random, chaotic and minimal. Downtown, young men could be seen carrying pistols.

As international rescue crews combed rubble for survivors across the capital, there were jostling scrums for food and water as U.S. helicopters swooped down to throw out boxes of water bottles and rations. A reporter also saw foreign aid workers tossing packets of food to desperate Haitians.

DISORGANIZED DISTRIBUTION

"The distribution is totally disorganized. They are not identifying the people who need the water. The sick and the old have no chance," said Estime Pierre Deny, standing at the back of a crowd looking for water with his empty plastic container.

Watching the looters downtown, student Ricardo Fume said: "People have nothing to eat, so they steal these things to sell. The United States had the World Trade Center (the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks), we had this, it is worse," Fume said.

Haiti is the Western Hemisphere's poorest country and has for decades struggled with devastating storms, floods and political unrest. Around 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers have provided security here since a 2004 uprising ousted one president.

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[Bioshock1451]

i am not being a dick or anything but these sorta reminds me of district 9 when the aliens fight eachother or something like that

[tasu9]

こういう世界中で見れる場所で２ｃｈのノリで書き込んでる奴や

自画自賛してる日本人本当に気持ち悪い

[NTBXP1]

@NTBXP1 >>英語語

何つーTYPO何だコレ…

[NTBXP1]

@tasu9 だけどコメント２・３回で即効で串を焼かれるという鎖国性。

出島もあるけど、英語語でしか喋れんわ。

ゴキ板やシベリアでやるのもなあ…

あと、外人のいない海外生活板とか存在理由あるか？

２ちゃんねるでコメント出来ないならログ速を見てとアフィブログ­でコメントするだけだ。



[tasu9]

@bauru010

もちろん世界中の人が２ｃｈも見てるよ

でも日本マニアやごく一部の人間で、youtube見る数と比べ­るレベルには全く無いよ

[bauru010]

@tasu9

2chも世界中で見れるんだよ

[toyokouhei]

haha primitive people

[danioniko]

こええええw

[dorry18]

@LittoMoonLight how cud they land.. the helicopter wudda got swarmed

[ryu123321]

荒ぶる群馬県民