Haiti search: from rescue to recovery
Updated on 19 January 2010
A week on from the deadly Haiti earthquake, Jon Snow joins British and American search teams as they continue to scour the rubble of Port-au-Prince for signs of life.
Seven days since the 7.0 magnitude tremor in Haiti's capital, some survivors are still being pulled from the wreckage.
But the stories of miraculous survival are few and far between. The UN says just 90 people have been successfully rescued.
It is reported the Americans are on the verge of declaring the operations a "recovery rather than a rescue mission".
Jon Snow has been out with two teams - one British, one American - in the frustrating search for anyone left alive.
He met people on the streets who complained politicians have been scarce. The feeling is, leadership is now badly needed.
One man said: "No politicians, no ministers, nothing. We need more attention."
For more Channel 4 News coverage of Haiti earthquake
- Haiti survivors pulled from the rubble
- Haiti receives US aid airdrops
- Haiti quake: how to help the rescue effort
- Blog: nomads on the move in an unpredictable country
The aid effort has now gathered considerable pace, with 2,000 US marines now on the island and more planeloads of supplies reaching the country.
However the death toll has soared to twice that previously feared.
The latest casualty report from the European Commission, which uses Haitian government data, said about 200,000 people had perished, with some 70,000 bodies already recovered and trucked off to mass graves.
That would make the disaster on a par with 2004's Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed an estimated 230,000 people.
Tens of thousands of Haitians are living in makeshift tent villages outside the capital Port-au-Prince awaiting food and medical treatment, while search and rescue staff continue the search for survivors in rubble.
The UK government has trebled the amount of money it is giving in aid to more than £20m, while a Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal has so far raised £23m following its launch last week.
The DEC says water supplies and medical expertise were increasingly reaching the capital.
Chief executive Brendan Gormley said: "Our partner agencies have been distributing aid and installing vital equipment, such as water bladders and medical facilities.
"We know that people are being reached, but there is a huge challenge ahead, and much more work to be done.
"The area affected by this earthquake is huge, and devastation wrecked upon the infrastructure of Haiti means agencies face many obstacles."
