Chile reports 45 survivors in Haiti rubble - Summary

Santiago - The Chilean government said Friday that international rescue workers had located 45 survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings in Haiti. "This indicates that our forces are working in an active, serious and professional way to help the Haitian people," the Chilean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in Santiago.

Earlier, Chile's presidential envoy to Haiti, Juan Gabriel Valdes, told the radio station Cooperativa that 23 survivors had been located in the rubble of the Hotel Montana, where most international officials in Haiti stay.

"We found them during the night," Valdes said, while not specifying the nationalities of the survivors. He said rescue workers from different nations were working in the area.

Chile's Joint Chiefs of Staff noted that rescue efforts, with the support of medical personnel, were focusing on Haitian capital Port- au-Prince.

Efforts were also seeking to distribute water to dehydrated civilians, and to get medicine to those in need to avoid the spread of illnesses.

Valdes, a former head of the peacekeeping mission in Haiti, was optimistic that more survivors might be found, but noted that others would die.

"At the Christopher Hotel (which held the UN mission headquarters) it is more unlikely to find survivors. The building is totally crushed, and a large portion of people there died," he said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/304034,chile-reports-45-survivors-in-haiti-rubble--summary.html.