As Time Wanes for Haiti Rescue, Aid Efforts Improve

Ban Ki-moon promises more help from the UN
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 18, 2010 4:00 AM CST
As Time Wanes for Haiti Rescue, Aid Efforts Improve
This photo provided by the United Nations shows a Haitian man carrying his possessions up a hill backed by a destroyed neighborhood near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010.   (AP Photo/United Nations, Logan Abassi)

With time running out for any survivors of last week's earthquake, international search and rescue teams intensified their efforts in Haiti. Three people were rescued yesterday—including a 7-year-old girl who survived for days in a collapsed supermarket—bringing the total number of those pulled alive from the rubble to 62. Attempts to distribute water and food improved as a result of streamlined logistics at Haiti's airport and improved coordination between the myriad international aid groups, though many remain in dire need.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Haiti to promise more from his organization, which has been criticized for responding slowly. "I am here with a message of hope that help is on the way,'' the secretary said in front of the National Palace. The UN is providing food for 40,000 people currently, the secretary said, and expects to be feeding 2 million within a month, the Miami Herald reports. Some 70,000 bodies have been recovered for mass burial.
(More Haiti stories.)

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