Skip to main content

US launches major operation to aid Haiti

Thursday, January 14, 2010
WASHINGTON: The United States launched a massive military and civilian operation on Wednesday to aid Haiti, as President Barack Obama vowed a swift and aggressive effort to save lives in the devastated capital, Port-au-Prince.

Teams of civilian and military experts began landing in Haiti as US aircraft searched for survivors and tried to assess the damage from the massive 7.0 magnitude quake.

As a wealthy neighbor with the world's most powerful military, the United States appeared well-placed to lead relief efforts for the impoverished Caribbean nation, mobilizing an array of specialists, ships, helicopters, planes and helicopters.

"I have directed my administration to respond with a swift, coordinated and aggressive effort to save lives," Obama said at the White House.

"Search and rescue teams from Florida, Virginia and California will arrive throughout today and tomorrow."

At daylight, a US Navy P-3 maritime patrol aircraft, usually used to track drug trafficking in the region, flew over the site of the earthquake in Port-au-Prince while a Coast Guard cutter with a helicopter flight deck arrived off the coast.

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier was en route and set to arrive Thursday, while destroyers and more Coast Guard ships were on the way, General Douglas Fraser, head of the US Southern Command, told reporters.

Amid fears the quake had left thousands dead, officials said planes were landing at the Port-au-Prince international airport but that communications had been knocked out at the airport's tower and the passenger terminal was damaged.

A team of US Air Force experts was due to arrive later on Wednesday to help restore air traffic control and communications at the airport, Fraser said.

"We have a group going in to can make sure we can gain and secure the air field and operate from it" as it was needed as a hub for relief efforts, the general said.

About 60 military personnel were on the ground and about 30 military engineers, medical specialists and other experts were due to arrive on Wednesday aboard a C-130 Hercules plane to assist US and international officials organize emergency aid, Fraser said.

A State Department spokesman said that three US relief and rescue teams would depart Wednesday for Haiti from Costa Rica, Washington and Los Angeles, arriving at intervals during the day.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

India's swine flu death rate is increasing

Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...

Tennis: Clijsters wins US Open, second time

NEW YORK: Kim Clijsters of Belgium won the US Open on Sunday by defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 7-5, 6-3 in the final.She is the first mother to win a Grand Slam title since Evonne Goolagong in 1980, the victory coming just five weeks after she returned to the sport following a 27-month retirement. She was the first wildcard, man or woman, to win a US Open title in the history of the tournament.

42 killed in wave of Iraq bombings

BAGHDAD: At least 42 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded in a spate of bomb attacks near the restive northern Iraqi city of Mosul and in the capital Baghdad on Monday, police said. In the deadliest single attack, two booby-trapped lorries exploded before dawn in the village of Khaznah, east of Mosul, leaving 25 people dead and 70 others wounded. Thirty-five houses were destroyed in the village, which is home to members of the tiny Shabak community, a sect of Kurdish origin. In Baghdad, two car bombs went off as day labourers were gathering in the early morning hours looking for jobs.The first bomb exploded at Hay al-Amel, in the west of the capital, killing nine people and injuring 46. The second bomb attack in Shurta Arbaa in the north of the city killed seven people and wounded 35 others.