By Valirie Senek
Patrick Hein worked on the 5th level of the building sheltering the services of United Nations in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake happened. It was 17 h 00 in Haiti (22 h 00 GMT), on Tuesday evening, that is 2 h 00 of the morning in Mauritius yesterday on Wednesday, January 13th. The Mauritian works for the forces of the peace maintaining of UNO for four years. He was a close Partner of the Tunisian Hedi Annabi the leader of the Mission of United Nations for Stabilization in Haiti (Minustah). The latter would have been killed in the catastrophe, while Patrick Hein is the son of Philippe Hein himself, the ancient head of the personnel of the UNO.
After the statement of Bernard Kouchner French minister of Foreign Affairs with effect that all employees of the mission of United Nations in Haiti had died, the parents of Patrick Hein in Mauritius fears the worst for their son and his spouse. This one is also an employee of the Minustah. It is while following the information on television that the relatives of Patrick Hein saw on CNN, the services of relief evacuating the Mauritian. "My son is a miraculously saved" declared Philippe Hein to Jean Luc Emile, the chief editor of Radio One.
In Haiti, the situation is dramatic. The President of the Republic, René Préval has estimated the number of approximately 30 000 - 50 000 deaths. Some hours earlier, his Prime minister, Jean-Max Bellerive has expressed his fear of a greater number of death exceeding 100 000. The seism, of magnitude 7 on the Richter scale, was the most violent for more than 200 years ever hit this country, one of the poorest of the planet.
Some schools, hospitals, buildings, army camps of the shanty towns collapsed under the violence of the tremor arising Tuesday January 12 at 17h00 (local hour to Haiti) or 22h00 GMT, or 2h00 in the morning on Wednesdays January 13 in Maurice. Nearly 24 hours after the catastrophe, inhabitants wandered in the devastated streets, stunned by the shock, or strove to come to the rescue of the blocked persons under debris. The local Red Cross declared itself overflowed, while the international assistance sets itself up. The UN was harshly touched, the building of five floors sheltering the seat of his mission in the country, the Minustah, collapsed. The organization declared that the number of its employees died would be "extremely high". About one hundred persons disappeared under the building rubble.
The Brazilian army declared that eleven members of his quota within the Mission of the United Nations for the stabilization to Haiti died and that many other military were reported missing.
THE RESCUE OVERFLOWED
The presidential palace was itself equally collapsed during the earthquake. René Préval and his spouse were not in the building and survived but the President of the Senate lists among the unfortunate victims under the rubble. Tens, indeed hundreds of thousands of houses were destroyed, declared a spokesperson of the Minustah. In the streets of Port-au-Prince, a city of four millions of inhabitants, people wandered in sobs. Shouting escaped from ruins. "Help me to go out, I die (...). I have two children with me ", a woman blocked under the debris of a day nursery in the living quarter of Canapé-Vert cried to a journalist of Reuters. The earthquake epicenter was situated inside the earths in 10 km deep and in 16 km of the capital. Earthquake was followed by several violent retorts achieving until 5,9 of magnitude. Haiti is very poorly equipped to face this type of catastrophes and launched a request of support to the international assistance. Inhabitants removed pads of concrete with bare hands to attempt to save their dearest beloved ones. The Spokesperson of the Haitian Red Cross, Périclès Jean-Baptiste, declared that his organization was overflowed. "Too many people need assistance (...). We lack equipments, we lack bags to put the bodies", he said to Reuters.
Communications are cut, roads blocked by rubbles and fallen trees, the supply of electricity was interrupted and drinking water was short-supplied.
INTERNATIONAL MOBILIZATION
The American President Barack Obama promised "an unfaltering help" to Haiti. He ordered the American administration to provide assistance fast to the disaster victims and the US Navy sent aircraft carriers and three amphibious ships. Already, planes P3 of US Air Force perform flights of recognition above the devastated zone. China, France, Iceland, the Dominican Republic neighbors, were part of the first mobilized countries to come to the aid of the country. The Doctors Organization Without Borders (MSF or Médecins Sans Frontières) declared that its three hospitals in Haiti were unusable and that they cared for the injured people in temporary shelters. "What we see are harsh traumatisms, injuries to the head, members crushed, of engrave problems that cannot be treated with the medical currently available care level", Paul McPhun, of the Canadian section of MSF has explained. The school of medicine of the University of Miami announced the sending of a plane to install a hospital on the spot and the repatriation of injured men in a critical state towards Florida.
In Vatican City, the Pope Benoît XVI ordered the immediate draft of the charitable network of the Catholic Church in favour of the victims. The cathedral was destroyed and the archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Mon Seigneur Joseph Serge Miot, was rediscovered dead in its offices, according to the media. The World Bank, which offices are situated in the suburbs were destroyed, announced the releasing of 100 millions of dollars of emergency aid, to the UN an envelope deal of 10 million.
After the statement of Bernard Kouchner French minister of Foreign Affairs with effect that all employees of the mission of United Nations in Haiti had died, the parents of Patrick Hein in Mauritius fears the worst for their son and his spouse. This one is also an employee of the Minustah. It is while following the information on television that the relatives of Patrick Hein saw on CNN, the services of relief evacuating the Mauritian. "My son is a miraculously saved" declared Philippe Hein to Jean Luc Emile, the chief editor of Radio One.
In Haiti, the situation is dramatic. The President of the Republic, René Préval has estimated the number of approximately 30 000 - 50 000 deaths. Some hours earlier, his Prime minister, Jean-Max Bellerive has expressed his fear of a greater number of death exceeding 100 000. The seism, of magnitude 7 on the Richter scale, was the most violent for more than 200 years ever hit this country, one of the poorest of the planet.
Some schools, hospitals, buildings, army camps of the shanty towns collapsed under the violence of the tremor arising Tuesday January 12 at 17h00 (local hour to Haiti) or 22h00 GMT, or 2h00 in the morning on Wednesdays January 13 in Maurice. Nearly 24 hours after the catastrophe, inhabitants wandered in the devastated streets, stunned by the shock, or strove to come to the rescue of the blocked persons under debris. The local Red Cross declared itself overflowed, while the international assistance sets itself up. The UN was harshly touched, the building of five floors sheltering the seat of his mission in the country, the Minustah, collapsed. The organization declared that the number of its employees died would be "extremely high". About one hundred persons disappeared under the building rubble.
The Brazilian army declared that eleven members of his quota within the Mission of the United Nations for the stabilization to Haiti died and that many other military were reported missing.
THE RESCUE OVERFLOWED
The presidential palace was itself equally collapsed during the earthquake. René Préval and his spouse were not in the building and survived but the President of the Senate lists among the unfortunate victims under the rubble. Tens, indeed hundreds of thousands of houses were destroyed, declared a spokesperson of the Minustah. In the streets of Port-au-Prince, a city of four millions of inhabitants, people wandered in sobs. Shouting escaped from ruins. "Help me to go out, I die (...). I have two children with me ", a woman blocked under the debris of a day nursery in the living quarter of Canapé-Vert cried to a journalist of Reuters. The earthquake epicenter was situated inside the earths in 10 km deep and in 16 km of the capital. Earthquake was followed by several violent retorts achieving until 5,9 of magnitude. Haiti is very poorly equipped to face this type of catastrophes and launched a request of support to the international assistance. Inhabitants removed pads of concrete with bare hands to attempt to save their dearest beloved ones. The Spokesperson of the Haitian Red Cross, Périclès Jean-Baptiste, declared that his organization was overflowed. "Too many people need assistance (...). We lack equipments, we lack bags to put the bodies", he said to Reuters.
Communications are cut, roads blocked by rubbles and fallen trees, the supply of electricity was interrupted and drinking water was short-supplied.
INTERNATIONAL MOBILIZATION
The American President Barack Obama promised "an unfaltering help" to Haiti. He ordered the American administration to provide assistance fast to the disaster victims and the US Navy sent aircraft carriers and three amphibious ships. Already, planes P3 of US Air Force perform flights of recognition above the devastated zone. China, France, Iceland, the Dominican Republic neighbors, were part of the first mobilized countries to come to the aid of the country. The Doctors Organization Without Borders (MSF or Médecins Sans Frontières) declared that its three hospitals in Haiti were unusable and that they cared for the injured people in temporary shelters. "What we see are harsh traumatisms, injuries to the head, members crushed, of engrave problems that cannot be treated with the medical currently available care level", Paul McPhun, of the Canadian section of MSF has explained. The school of medicine of the University of Miami announced the sending of a plane to install a hospital on the spot and the repatriation of injured men in a critical state towards Florida.
In Vatican City, the Pope Benoît XVI ordered the immediate draft of the charitable network of the Catholic Church in favour of the victims. The cathedral was destroyed and the archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Mon Seigneur Joseph Serge Miot, was rediscovered dead in its offices, according to the media. The World Bank, which offices are situated in the suburbs were destroyed, announced the releasing of 100 millions of dollars of emergency aid, to the UN an envelope deal of 10 million.
Valirie Thomas Senek, a retired air hostess, has been a professional hostess for Air Mauritius for several years. She has travelled throughout everywhere around the world and her experience has helped her to publish many tourism articles in the national print magazine, and her web site at
Make Your Own Preparedness Kit
Make Your Own Preparedness Kit
