Cor Unam: "Church Mobilized for Haiti"

(15 Jan 10 - RV) The Red Cross says the death toll in Haiti could be at least 50 thousand, and that figure is expected to rise as fears grow for a public health emergency in the country.


The Haitian government says 7000 thousand victims of Tuesday's earthquake have already been buried.


Hundreds of corpses have been piling up outside the main morgue in the capital Port-au-Prince, where family members are searching for the remains of their loved ones.


Former US President Bill Clinton - the UN's Special Envoy to Haiti - says unless international relief efforts make enough progress, mass burials may be the only way to avoid a public health catastrophe.


3,500 American troops have been sent to the Capital Port-Au-prince to help with the relief effort and to provide security, while the United Nations has sent 37 search and rescue teams from a global network.


Both US President Barack Obama and the head of the International Monetary Fund made separate pledges of $100 million in rapid assistance.


But little is known about the humanitarian situation in earthquake-affected areas outside the capital.


Cor Unam, the Pope’s Council for Charitable Activities says it is working closely with Catholic Relief Services, the US branch of the Caritas network who have been present in Haiti for decades. 




Tom price head of communications for Catholic Relief Services: