Latest Channel 4 News:
Row over Malaysian state's coins
'Four shot at abandoned mine shaft'
Rain fails to stop Moscow wildfires
Cancer blow for identical twins
Need for Afghan progress 'signs'

UN urges 'patience' as Haiti frustrations rise

By Channel 4 News

Updated on 18 January 2010

Thousands of US troops arrive in Port-au-Prince to help install order as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urges Haitians still waiting for humanitarian aid to "be more patient".

Damage in Port-au-Prince (Credit:Reuters)

The US Southern Command said a further 2,200 marines would be arriving in Haiti today with medical aid, helicopters and heavy equipment to clear debris.

However logistical logjams and streets strewn with debris have meant aid is struggling to reach survivors, nearly a week after the 7.0 magnitude quake struck Port-au-Prince.

It is feared up to 200,000 thousand people were killed. Two million others are estimated to have been injured or lost their homes.

Scrums have formed where the UN has managed to distribute food and water supplies, and looters have attacked shops in the capital for a second day.

At least two looters were reported to have been shot dead.

The Haitian president Rene Preval said the US troops would help keep order where local police and UN peacekeepers had failed to prevent violence.

Extra aid

The British government today trebled the aid it is giving to help the Haiti relief effort.

Funding will rise from £6.2m to £20m.

International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said: "It is now clear that the international community is dealing with an almost unprecedented level of devastation.

"Our initial assessments show a level of humanitarian need which would severely test the international response in any circumstances. But the impact of this earthquake is magnified because it has hit a country that was already desperately poor and historically volatile."

More than 30 countries have rushed rescue teams, doctors and relief supplies to Haiti, and some survivors are still being pulled alive from the rubble days after the quake.

However some aid agencies complained shipments of aid were not being allowed to land at Port-au-Prince airport, which is now being controlled by the US.

The US commander at the airport, Colonel Buck Elton, said there had been 600 take-offs and landings since the US took control on Wednesday.

UN visit  

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Port-au-Prince on Sunday, where he described the quake as "one of the worst humanitarian crises in decades".

Mr Ban toured the remains of the UN mission, and visited a makeshift settlement for survivors opposite the collapsed presidential palace.

He was challenged over the slow pace of the relief effort as he was asked: "Where is the food? Where is the help?"

Mr Ban acknowledged the growing frustrations, however said "I appeal to the Haitian people to be more patient." 

The former US President Bill Clinton is due to arrive in Port-au-Prince today to meet the Haitian President and discuss what aid the country needs.

Send this article by email

More on this story

Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of external websites.


Watch the Latest Channel 4 News

Watch Channel 4 News when you want

Latest Americas news

More News blogs

View RSS feed

Helping Haiti's homeless

image

Have basic necessities reached the earthquake victims?

Missing in Mexico

Image of missing mexican woman in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Exclusive: Nick Martin on the 'selling of children' to US citizens.

Crystal meth

Crystal meth (Picture: Getty Images)

Examining the drug that is easy to make and its impact in the US.

Most watched

image

Find out which reports and videos are getting people clicking online.




Channel 4 © 2010. Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of external websites.