Sailors to spread relief outside Haiti’s capital

A group of Canadian sailors has landed on the north shore of Haiti’s quake-ravaged southern peninsula, near the hard-hit fishing village of Leogane.

About 25 sailors from HMCS Athabaskan, the Canadian destroyer which arrived off the coast earlier today, arrived on shore in a small inflatable boat.

HMCS Athabaskan will be helping to provide aid to the village and reconnaissance for members of the Quebec-based Royal 22e Regiment, who are on their way to Haiti from CFB Valcartier.

Members from the Halifax will be in Jacmel.  The Athabascan’s crew will be in Leogane, where it’s estimated nearly every structure has been flattened by the earthquake.  About 100 crew members from each ship will try to clear away the rubble and bodies that lie in the streets.

Until now, most of the world’s efforts have been focused on Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.  That city still contains scenes of horror — bodies still lie in streets that are choked with rubble.  The stench of the dead has residents wearing face masks, kerchiefs sprayed with perfume or a smear of toothpaste on their upper lip — to try to block out the smell.

Some relief is trickling into the capital, where it’s estimated more than 73,000 earthquake victims have received enough food to last a week.  But many more still wait.

“Private relief agencies and workers are telling us, they’ve got tons of equipment sitting at the Port-au-Prince airport and it simply can’t get out,” Associated Press reporter Tony Winton said.

“A lot of the problem is just plain old traffic — winding roads that still haven’t been cleared, and long, long delays,” Winton explained.

The U.S. military has reversed an earlier decision, and airdropped water and food into Haiti.  14,500 ready-to-eat meals and 15,000 litres of water were airdropped into a secured area, northeast of the capital.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates had said early airdrops were ruled out because they might trigger riots if there was no structure on the ground to distribute the supplies.

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