Fight Over Food!
Looters Reign in Haiti Quake Aftermath
A looter holds a knife as he fights for products after Tuesday’s earthquake in Port-au-Prince January 16, 2010. Credit: REUTERS/Carlos Barria. Image may be subject to copyright. Reuters image gallery.
More than 100 hours after the massive earthquake destroyed large areas of the capital, Port-au-Prince, up to two million Haitians are still without help.
For many of the survivors, food, water and shelter remain high priorities. Their very survival is at stake. Fighting for what little scraps of food they can find.
Sporadic looting, which occurred almost immediately after the earthquake dust had settled, now appears be widening as survivors become even more desperate.
“On the city’s shattered main commercial boulevard near the port, hundreds of looters swarmed over the wreckage of stores, carrying off T-shirts, bags, toys and anything else they could find. Fighting broke out between groups of looters carrying knives, ice-picks, hammers and rocks.” Reuters reported.
As our colleagues in EDRO predicted two years ago, as a city nears collapse most of its inhabitants abandon the place and head for other population centers.
“Even as aid poured into Port-au-Prince airport, thousands of Haitians streamed out of the city on foot with suitcases on their heads or jammed in cars to find food, water and shelter in the countryside and flee aftershocks as well as violence.” Reuters reported.
Just how many dead?
FEWW’s initial estimate of the dead and injured was pegged at twenty thousand (20,000) victims. The Moderators haven’t observed any evidence to suggest their estimate is grossly inaccurate.
Yet the Haiti ruling lords, continue to claim they have buried more than 50,000 victims (dead victims, hopefully), about a quarter to a half of the final toll [sic], without a shred of evidence to substantiate their ridiculous claim. There’s NO evidence, of course, because there can’t be any. Their claim is physically impossible.
The 50,000 figure first surfaced on day 3 after the quake struck. Given the initial state of shock, most (99%) of the dead bodies must have been “collected” and buried on the the third day. It would also mean that:
- Fifty percent of the victims who were killed by the collapsing buildings, where thrown out of the rubble [sic.] No digging was necessary to recover their corpses.
- The corpses of between a quarter and a half of all the earthquake victims were recovered and buried within 72 hours [sic] after the quake struck.
Given the decayed state of Haitian infrastructure and the government’s total inability (NO inference drawn to the theological doctrine) to deal with emergencies in the past, the claim is a physical impossibility.
Haitian authorities must realize that there are an average of about 15 different, but easily calculable, physical parameters associated with each and every step of the scenario implied by their claim.
For anyone with a short memory, the initial estimates of the casualties after Hurricane Katrina struck were pegged at a minimum of 10,000 dead. The actual number of the dead were less than 1,900.
Why do TV Networks and Multinational News Corporation Go Along with Govt Figures?
The truth is they have too much at stake. TV ad networks like ZNN have a whole army of reporters, disaster ‘experts,’ producers and production crew committed to the disaster area and are making a meal of it. The number of casualties is directly proportional to their audience numbers.
The extent of disaster, of course, must not be underestimated. The poverty stricken nation of Haiti needs all the help it can get.
According to various news reports:
- Several incidents of violent looting has occurred in Port-au-Prince. “It’s anarchy there now, total chaos, the police have gone away [and the people] are fighting, hitting each other, throwing stones at each other.” Reuters photographer Carlos Barria was quoted as saying.
- Mobs armed with hammers ice-picks, knives, machetes and rocks were fighting over just about any items they could find in collapsed houses, shops and garages.
“The scene an hour’s drive west of Port-au-Prince is apocalyptic. Almost every single building on the road I’m driving on now has been flattened.” A BBC report said.
Yet their 2-minute video only showed what appeared to be a collapsed building, several houses and garages with their roofs intact, a squashed bicycle and a woman who claimed both her legs were broken, as she laid comfortably chatting the reporter.
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