Haitians hunt for survivors in quake rubble

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti－Haitians labored through the night to pick through shattered buildings in search of friends and relatives trapped in the rubble after a devastating earthquake struck the Caribbean country on Saturday, killing more than 700 people and injuring thousands.

The 7.2 magnitude quake flattened hundreds of homes in the impoverished country, which is still clawing its way back from a major temblor 11 years ago and has been without a head of state since the assassination of its president last month.

Southwestern Haiti bore the brunt of the blow, especially in the region in and around the city of Les Cayes. Haitian officials had by Saturday night registered at least 304 deaths and more than 1,800 people injured.

Churches, hotels, hospitals and schools were badly damaged or destroyed, while the walls of a prison were rent open by the violent shudders that convulsed Haiti at 8:29 am local time.

"We need to show a lot of solidarity with the emergency," Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry said.

National Highway 7, which connects Les Cayes and another southern city Jeremie, has been blocked by a landslide, the country's Civil Protection Directorate said.

"An operation is being carried out to restore traffic circulation," said the agency, praising efforts by rescue teams and residents to pull many people from the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Henry, who went to the administrative department of Grand'Anse to see the damage, said the government has mobilized resources to help victims.

The earthquake originated about 12 kilometers from the southern town of Saint Louis du Sud.

Many Haitians spent the first night after the quake sleeping in the open, traumatized by memories of the magnitude 7 quake that struck far closer to the sprawling capital Port-au-Prince in 2010, killing tens of thousands of people.

Footage of Saturday's aftermath posted on social media showed residents reaching into narrow openings in piles of fallen masonry to pull out shocked and distraught people from the debris of walls and roofs that had crumbled around them.

Access to the worst-hit areas has been complicated by a deterioration in law and order that has left key roads in parts of Haiti in the hands of gangs, although unconfirmed reports on social media suggested they would let aid pass.

Leaders of several Latin American countries on Saturday expressed their solidarity with the people of Haiti.

The Argentine government expressed its deep regret for the human and material losses caused by the earthquake and said it would work with Haitian officials.

Logistical support

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Twitter that his government will provide "logistical support and necessary supplies" to help the Haitian people.

Peruvian President Pedro Castillo said on Twitter: "I express my total solidarity with the people of Haiti after the devastating earthquake that occurred today. As a government in the region, we will be attentive in providing support to the nation in order to advance in unity and fraternal integration."

Brazil said it would provide humanitarian aid to Haiti, adding that no members of the Brazilian community in the quake-hit country were affected by the disaster.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sent his condolences to the people of Haiti and said that his government "is already preparing immediate aid through the National Coordination of Civil Protection and the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the Secretariat of the Navy and the Ministry of National Defense."

Agencies - Xinhua