As new pictures emerge showing the immediate aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake, attacks by looters are adding to a growing sense of insecurity around the capital. Jon Snow reports.
New pictures have emerged showing the immediate aftermath of the earthquake as people in and around the cathedral manage to free both themselves and their friends from its rubble.
Elsewhere in Port-au-Prince tonight there is a gathering air of insecurity to add to the appalling shortages.
Two camps visited by Jon Snow have suffered attacks by looters in the last 24 hours – and there are reports of many others.
The camps are located immediately next to the devastated homes from which the local residents fled.
Jon Snow interviewed Yolette Etienne, Oxfam programme manager for Haiti, who lost her own mother in the devastation of the earthquake.
“All of us in our staff, we’re all affected as the rest of the population, losing our houses, losing our family – in my case, my mum,” she said.
“And we lost very important colleagues, working from the last 15 years together, and old people, young people, working with us. It’s very hard.”
“That means now we have no choice but to work harder, because we have the opportunity to support people. And the other people, they have nothing. They are completely disempowered and they are waiting for our support.
Ms Etienne recalled how she had had to bury her mother in her garden.
The agencies were now fighting for coordination and for aid, she explained. “We know there are a lot of promises about aid. But coordination is key. But while organising coordination, we need to start to support people.”
As well as the need for medicine, Ms Etienne said water was a key element. But to distribute water, fuel was needed. “We are able to start something if we have some fuel,” she said.