Resembles Hell On Earth As Bodies Pile Up And Armed Men Battle Over
Food, Supplies
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CBS) ― Gangs of men armed with machetes were seen looting parts of
Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Jan. 14, 2010.
The earthquake aftermath has brought out the best and worst of the
people of Haiti. Much like the days after Hurricane Katrina, looting has become a problem
very quickly. The looting appears to be isolated to Port-au-Prince's old commercial
center. It's an area that under normal circumstances would be filled
with many shops, markets and a few homes. But on Wednesday it was a
completely different scene. It looked like a war zone. Some of the buildings were on fire. Smoke was everywhere and there were
bodies in the streets, many just quake victims lying where they were
when the magnitude 7.0 blast hit. What made the situation that much more tense was sightings of gangs of
young men with machetes. On Wednesday they were seen getting into stores
and taking all the supplies they could carry. The armed men were seen
marching up and down the streets with machetes raised and the
competition among the gangs turned quite fierce. Fights between gangs were seen on the streets. Machetes were flailing
and it was impossible to predict what would happen next. There was no sign of police or any kind of law and order. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Food is often
scarce. Now, with this tragedy, desperate people are doing whatever they
have to do to eat. People were seen going into stores and rubble and
taking anything they could find with them for their trip back to
wherever they were camping out. There was not a single sign of relief on Wednesday. No workers, packages
or bottles of water have arrived from relief agencies. There was just
nothing. And with no running water or electricity, people are getting hungry and
thirsty. The situation is dire. If you have family in Haiti and are having trouble reaching them, the
state department can help. It has set up a hotline for Americans looking
for relatives there: 1-888-407-4747.
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