Haiti infrastructure damage preventing aid

Rescue efforts are still underway

Aid groups on the scene in Haiti are saying that major infrastructure damage is holding up aid relief for the victims of Tuesday's massive earthquake that has left over 50,000 dead.

Reports from news correspondents are saying that there is little sign of supplies beyond the Port-au-Prince airport and as a result, there is increasing anger and desperation among survivors. With over three million people in the country said to be affected, large amounts of water and aid are needed, and while an international aid effort is underway, world leaders have warned it would take time for it to reach the populous.

With roads still littered and blocked with debris, the port critically damaged and planes queuing to land at the airport, it seems that bottlenecks on the ground are preventing supplies from leaving the airport perimeter. Meanwhile, the local Oxfam has said its stocks of water, sanitation and shelter have all been destroyed in the earthquake. In the long term for the country's infrastructure, President Obama and French President Sarkozy, along with Canada, Brazil and other international countries, have announced a conference on reconstruction in Haiti.

Survivors now dying

The delay in getting the supplies out to those who need them, has meant those that survived the quake are now dying from injuries sustained in the disaster as well as from a lack of clean water and food.

The breakdown in authority, since the UN headquarters collapsed, has meant that there have been reports of looting and hijacking. This sense of frustration has made its way now to the poorest people, some of whom have constructed a roadblock from bodies.

Shaul Schwarz, a photographer for Time magazine, who saw the 'roadblock' said he believed this was an "act of anger" on the part of people who are not getting help.

Help on its way

With US President Obama promising "every element of our national capacity, our diplomacy, and development assistance" and ensuring that people of Haiti will not be forgotten. Over $270 million in international aid has been pledged so far with the US contributing $100 million.

Meanwhile, it is reported that while US military support is on its way to the Caribbean country, many refugees are now opting to leave the city while international search and rescue teams continue to look for survivors.

UK charity Plan International have said people were attempting to recover bodies from buildings and huge numbers were living on the street, with many families separated and children unable to find their parents. Aid agencies have been saying that many survivors are doomed to suffer psychologically in the long term from the trauma endured over the past few days.

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Haiti earthquake cripples country | America's most expensive natural disasters | 65 die in Samoan tsunami

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