Many countries including the Netherlands have pledged aid for Haiti following Tuesday’s major earthquake. Dutch Development Co-operation Minister Bert Koenders has earmarked an initial two million euros.
The United States has already sent its first team of rescue workers, sniffer dogs and nearly 50 tons of supplies. Other countries in North and South America are deploying teams of aid workers or are earmarking emergency funds. France is following suit and the European Union has promised three million euros' worth of emergency aid.
The precise magnitude of the disaster is not yet known but initial reports and video footage indicate thousands of people may have lost their lives. The capital Port-au-Prince has largely been destroyed. The Presidential Palace has been badly damaged and the headquarters of the United Nations peacekeeping mission has collapsed. A large number of staff from the UN building are missing.
The earthquake registered 7 on the Richter scale and its epicentre was located inland only 16 km from Port-au-Prince and at a depth of just 10 km. The quake led to panic in the Dominican Republic which is located with Haiti on the island of Hispaniola.
photo: Haïti after the quake (Flickr / Globovisión)
Haïti after the quake (Flickr / Globovisión)
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What happened in Haiti was a rare unpredictable tragedy, a lot countries are vulnerable to that and all those people shouldn't have died if Haiti had stricter regulations on building more solid homes. I wonder how many of those people had homeowners insurance, most of those left without their home live in shipping containers... The tragedy goes on, it will take years until Haiti recovers from the earthquake.
I hope the aid reaches the affected people, and not in the accounts of corrupt officials.Most of the earthquake aid to Pakistan was misused by the then govt, for terrorist activities.
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