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Haitian woman, aged 84, found alive in quake rubble

23 January 2010 01:25 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ayaz Abdulla â€“ APA. An 84-year-old woman has been rescued after spending 10 days under rubble following the Haiti quake, APA reports quoting BBC.
Doctors say the woman has multiple wounds and her condition is grave, but are doing all they can to save her.
The rescue came as the UN said rescuers were winding down searches for survivors and focusing on relief work.
Spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs said some rescue teams were leaving, as there was little hope of finding more people alive under the rubble.
A benefit concert, featuring more than 100 music and Hollywood stars, is to be broadcast around the world from 2000 EST (0100 GMT) for victims of the earthquake.
Security fears
In Port-au-Prince, life is slowly returning to normal, with shops opening and buses running - although many residents are continuing to leave the devastated capital.
On Thursday the government announced plans to send 400,000 people to tented cities in the countryside, to try to halt the spread of disease in the makeshift settlements that have sprung up in the capital.
Construction for the temporary centres has already started, the Associated Press says, but it is unclear when they will be populated.
Aid officials say about 200,000 people have already left the city, many to stay with relatives in other parts of the country.
The 84-year-old woman, rescued on Friday after 10 days in the rubble, is being treated by doctors at the main city hospital with intravenous fluids and drugs.
"I’m trying to find out how I can help her survive," Dr Ernest Benjamin told AFP news agency.
"It’s worth everything to try to save her."
Her son told the agency he had heard her cries on Thursday morning and, almost a day later, he dug her out with the help of friends.
Reuters news agency also reported that Israeli rescuers had pulled out a 22-year-old man, described as limp and suffering from dehydration.
Some 122 people have been saved by international search and rescue teams, according to the US government.
At least 75,000 bodies have so far been buried in mass graves, Haiti’s government has said. Many more remain uncollected in the streets.
An estimated 1.5 million people were left homeless by the 7.0-magnitude quake, which some have estimated has killed as many as 200,000 people.
Robbing and looting
Security fears remain in the capital, with local police chief Insp Aristide Rosemont appealing for help to tackle criminals who escaped when the earthquake wrecked the main jail.
He told the BBC a large number of gangs had begun robbing and looting in the Cite Soleil slum area since the prison escape.
But despite problems in Cite Soleil, UN officials say the capital is largely calm, with only sporadic violence.
About 5,000 prisoners broke out of the capital’s main jail after the walls collapsed, some of them hardened offenders belonging to violent criminal gangs.
Mass graves
Ms Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told AFP news agency that some search and rescue teams were "exhausted" and starting to leave.
Those that remain "are concentrating more and more on humanitarian aid for those who need it", she said.
Some have tried to flee abroad, but US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned Haitians not to use the earthquake as an excuse to try to enter the US illegally.
She said anyone caught trying to do so would be repatriated.
"Haitians need to be there to help rebuild their country, this is not an opportunity for migration," she said.
Meanwhile, efforts to rebuild Haiti’s main seaport - seen as vital to the international aid effort - are being stepped up.
The US and the UN World Food Programme insist the distribution of food and water is well under way, but BBC correspondents in Port-au-Prince say many people have still seen no international aid at all.
At least 500,000 people are currently living outdoors in 447 improvised camps in Port-au-Prince, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), with limited shelter and access to water.
Western countries are hoping to boost donations for the aid effort with a multi-network telethon.
Hope for Haiti Now, to be broadcast from New York, London, Los Angeles and Haiti, will feature Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce and other major artists.
The concert will be shown on all major US TV channels, MTV in the UK and worldwide on YouTube from 0100 GMT.