US to increase troops in Haiti as rescue teams pull back
Friday, 22 January 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE (agencies): The US is sending another 4,000 sailors and marines to Haiti for the earthquake relief effort, diverting them from deployments in the Gulf and Africa, reports BBC.
The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and USS Nassau Amphibious Ready Group would "significantly" increase the ability to quickly provide aid, the navy said. The move will increase the number of US troops involved to about 16,000.
Earlier, a strong aftershock rocked the capital, Port-au-Prince, but did not seem to cause further casualties there.
Away from the city, survivors in some towns are still waiting for help after the original 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck eight days ago.
In the village of Leogane, near the quake's epicentre, doctors from Spain and Haiti's neighbour, the Dominican Republic, have set up a treatment centre.
Surgeons from the US and Cuba are also there, working together.
One of the US doctors said: "We've been so pleased with our interaction with the Cubans."
A member of the Cuban team said: "We're professional doctors and can work with doctors from any country in the world."
Haitian officials say the number who have died as a result of the quake is likely to be between 100,000 and 200,000, and that 75,000 bodies had already been buried in mass graves.
A Florida search and rescue team left Haiti on Wednesday and it was reported that teams from Belgium, Luxembourg and Britain did as well.
US and international teams have rescued 122 people, the White House said. Haitians rescued many others in the hours and days after the quake.
The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and USS Nassau Amphibious Ready Group would "significantly" increase the ability to quickly provide aid, the navy said. The move will increase the number of US troops involved to about 16,000.
Earlier, a strong aftershock rocked the capital, Port-au-Prince, but did not seem to cause further casualties there.
Away from the city, survivors in some towns are still waiting for help after the original 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck eight days ago.
In the village of Leogane, near the quake's epicentre, doctors from Spain and Haiti's neighbour, the Dominican Republic, have set up a treatment centre.
Surgeons from the US and Cuba are also there, working together.
One of the US doctors said: "We've been so pleased with our interaction with the Cubans."
A member of the Cuban team said: "We're professional doctors and can work with doctors from any country in the world."
Haitian officials say the number who have died as a result of the quake is likely to be between 100,000 and 200,000, and that 75,000 bodies had already been buried in mass graves.
A Florida search and rescue team left Haiti on Wednesday and it was reported that teams from Belgium, Luxembourg and Britain did as well.
US and international teams have rescued 122 people, the White House said. Haitians rescued many others in the hours and days after the quake.