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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Haiti searches for survivors after quake kills 304
People search through the wreckage of the Manguier Hotel after following an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, on Saturday. Photo: AFP
/ AFP, PORT-AU-PRINCE
Rescue workers were scrambling to find survivors after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Haiti, killing at least 304 and toppling buildings in the Caribbean nation still recovering from a devastating 2010 quake.
The epicenter of the quake, which rattled homes and sent terrified locals fleeing for safety on Saturday morning, was about 160km by road west of the center of the densely populated capital, Port-au-Prince.
Churches, businesses, schools and homes crumbled in the quake that trapped hundreds of people under rubble and left at least 1,800 people injured, the Haitian Civil Protection Agency said.
Rescuers raced against the clock to find survivors, with the agency saying on Twitter that efforts by “both professional rescuers and members of the public have led to many people being pulled from the rubble,” adding that overburdened hospitals continued to receive injured people.
Hours after the quake, the agency announced the death toll had jumped to 304, ticking upward throughout the day from a first report of 29 fatalities.
The quake was felt in much of the Caribbean, emanating from the epicenter at Haiti’s southwestern peninsula.
The agency said at least 160 people were killed in the country’s South department alone.
“Lots of homes are destroyed, people are dead and some are at the hospital,” 21-year-old Christella Saint Hilaire, who lives near the epicenter, told reporters.
Hospitals in the regions hardest hit by the quake were struggling to provide emergency care and at least three were full, Haitian Civil Protection Agency Director-General Jerry Chandler said.
The Haitian Ministry of Health quickly dispatched personnel and medicine to the southwestern peninsula, but their arrival could be hampered by the insecurity that has for months plagued the poorest country in the Americas.
The US and other nations, including diplomatic ally Taiwan, swiftly pledged support, with US President Joe Biden approving “immediate” aid efforts, and Haiti’s neighbor the Dominican Republic shipping 10,000 food rations and medical equipment.
UN Director-General Antonio Guterres said he was “following the latest unfolding tragedy in Haiti.”
“The UN is working to support rescue and relief efforts,” he wrote on Twitter.
A medical brigade of 253 Cuban doctors deployed in Haiti was traveling to treat the injured and adapt a Port-au-Prince hospital until now used for COVID-19 patients, their head said on Cuban television.
In Ecuador, the Quito Fire Department said it was preparing to send a team of 34 personnel specialized in urban search and rescue.
Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Venezuela also offered help, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Haitians “can count on the support of Spain to come through this terrible event.”
Images on social media showed people frantically trying to pull victims from the ruins of caved-in buildings, while screaming bystanders sought safety in the streets outside their homes.
“Houses and their surrounding walls have collapsed. The roof of the cathedral has fallen down,” Job Joseph from the city of Jeremie on Haiti’s western end told reporters.
Heavy damage was reported in the center of the city, home to about 200,000 people and composed primarily of single-story buildings.
The damage in the city of Les Cayes appeared to be significant, including the collapse of a multistory hotel.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who surveyed the damage via helicopter, declared a state of emergency for one month while calling on the nation to “show solidarity” and not panic.
A brief tsunami alert after the quake sent parents “fleeing the city with their children in arms,” Jeremie resident Tamas Jean Pierre said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
