Turkish Red Crescent to aid quake devastated Haitians

The 52 Turkish policemen serving in Haiti have survived the massive earthquake and there is no plan for them to return home yet. Also, two teams from the Turkish Red Crescent, or Kızılay, are on their way to help with rescue efforts.

Kızılay said up to 3 million people have been affected by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck southwest of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday. There were two aftershocks that measured 5.9 and 5.5.

It was the worst quake Haiti has seen in the last two centuries, according to reports from the scene. The catastrophic quake has resulted in severe damage valued in the billions of dollars.

A number of U.N. peacekeepers were among the thousands of people feared dead after the U.N. headquarters collapsed.  

Jordan, Brazil and China all reported deaths and the Tunisian head of the U.N. mission in Haiti is feared to have been killed.

Officials, however, gave relief to the relatives of 52 Turkish policemen who have served under the umbrella of the U.N. in Haiti.

“We contacted officers there as soon we heard the report. We are glad to say all of our colleagues survived,” a police source confirmed in a phone interview with the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

“Their health situation is good and there is no immediate plan to withdraw them. Their mission was to help Haitians and now is when they need the most help,” the source said.

Rachmani Domersant, an operations manager with the Food for the Poor charity, told Reuters the casualties could be worse than estimated. “You have thousands of people sitting in the streets with nowhere to go. People are trying to dig victims out with flashlights. Hundreds of casualties would be a serious understatement."

The communication infrastructure has been destroyed and it is not yet possible to confirm the extent of the destruction. Agencies reported Wednesday that many bodies are piled on the streets.

/Hurriyet Daily News/