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Haiti ends rescue phase as 2 more survivors found

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The Haitian government has ended the search and rescue phase of the earthquake relief effort, after two more people were pulled miraculously from the rubble in the devastated capital.

Smoke rises from a fire during an aerial survey of Port au Prince Jan. 22, 2010. Units from all branches of the U.S. military are conducting humanitarian and disaster relief operations in the aftermath of the massive January 12 quake. Haiti on Saturday mourned its earthquake dead and rescuers freed another survivor from the rubble, while victims struggled to find food and cash amid a slow-moving aid distribution operation. [Xinnua/Reuters]

"The government has declared the search and rescue phase over," the United Nations' Organisation for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Saturday in its latest situation report on the relief effort, adding that at least 132 people had been rescued.

Ten days after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit the impoverished country, an elderly woman and a young man were freed from ruins here on Friday.

Marie Carida Roman, 84 years old, was dug out from the remains of her home by her son and neighbors with bare hands. The 22-hour rescue came after her son heard her faint call for help on Thursday morning. The other survivor, a 22-year-old man, was rescued by the Israeli rescue team on the same day.

Hopes that others may have survived are fading, and the Haitian Interior Ministry said Friday the death toll had surpassed 110,000.

The ministry said nearly 200,000 people were injured and more than 600,000 left homeless after the quake hit the small Caribbean nation on Jan. 12. Haitian officials estimated that the final death toll could reach 200,000.

Rescuer search for survivors in the debris of a medical college in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 20, 2010.

Also on Friday, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on the international community to provide "speedy, sustainable and adequate" support for Haiti.

Approving the resolution by consensus, the 192-member body called for an early international response to the U.N. flash appeal of 575 million U.S. dollars for Haiti.

The General Assembly urged all relevant U.N. bodies and international financial institutions and development agencies to offer "continued effective humanitarian, technical and financial assistance."

Through the resolution, the assembly expressed its solidarity and support to the government and people of Haiti as well as to all member states that have lost nationals in this catastrophe.

It also paid special tribute to the staff of the U.N. and international peacekeepers who had given their lives in the line of duty.

Speaking to the assembly plenary session, U.N. General Secretary Ban Ki-moon said at least 70 U.N. staff had been killed and 146 were unaccounted for. "But we must expect that the death toll will continue to rise," he said.

"Food, water, medicine, and shelter are all in short supply. Three million people need help. Two million people require food assistance. One million people are homeless," he said.

Ban disputed some news reports about anarchy and violence in Haiti, saying the security situation remained stable. "Incidents of looting and unrest remain the exception, despite some news reports to the contrary," he said.

"The United Nations is playing the principal coordinating role, working with the government of Haiti in ensuring security," he said.

He emphasized the need to rebuild the impoverished Caribbean nation and "turn disaster into opportunity." The international community must help the Haitian government reconstitute itself, restore basic services and jump-start the economy, he said.

"And we need to provide jobs, not only to those who lost their jobs last week, but to the millions of Haitians who did not have a job in the first place," said the U.N. chief, who visited the country on Jan. 17.

To this end, the U.N. has launched a cash-for-work program to "help Haitians help themselves" by paying them to clear rubble from the street, distribute urgently needed aid and build camps for those made homeless by the quake.

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