HAITI / SEARCH AND RESCUE

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Spokesperson Nicholas Reader confirms that Haiti's government has called an end to search and rescue operations in Haiti. MINUSTAH

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:03:18
• Production Date: 23 January 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS - OCHA
• Subject Topical: DISASTER PREVENTION; DISASTER PREPAREDNESS; DISASTER RELIEF; HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
• Geographic Subject: HAITI; UNITED NATIONS STABILIZATION MISSION IN HAITI - MINUSTAH
• MAMS Id: U100123a

Description

STORY: HAITI / SEARCH AND RESCUE
TRT: 3.18
SOURCE: MINUSTAH / OCHA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 23 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE / RECENT

FILE – MINUSTAH - 17 JANUARY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI

1. Wide shot, aid workers unloading their equipment
2. Wide shot, tractor pulling equipment
3. Med shot, search and rescue dogs
4. Med shot, search and rescue dog

FILE – UNTV - 15 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE

5. Various shots, search and rescue mission with a British USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) Team at airport unloading equipment
6. Various shots, team breaking wood and concrete and entering university

23 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicholas Reader, Spokesperson, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations:
The government has declared that the Emergency Phase of the search and rescue operation is now concluded. That means some of the teams who have been in here since the day after the earthquake will start to leave. Those teams are exhausted. They need to go home. They need to re stack for the future deployments.”

FILE – UNTV - 14 JANUARY 2010, PORTA-AU-PRINCE

8. Various shots, rescue team
9. Various shots, rescue team freeing survivor
10. Various shots, team with survivor walking

23 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicholas Reader, Spokesperson, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations:
“At the same time teams will remain here in Haiti to respond to nay further sign of life that are found. They will also be working on recovery of corpses and of moving, they’ll keep the heavy lifting equipment in the country to move slabs to help with the recovery effort within buildings.”

FILE – MINUSTAH - 17 JANUARY 2010, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI

8. Various shots, UN search and rescue teams pull survivor from the rubble of the collapsed UN compound
9. Tracking shot, rescue workers carrying stretcher to a makeshift UN clinic

23 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicholas Reader, Spokesperson, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations:
“This does not mean that the search and rescue is over. It means the emergency response phase with new teams arriving, with more work being done, that is drawing to a close.”

FILE – OCHA - 19-20 JANUARY 2010, CARIBBEAN MARKET, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI

11. Various shots, SARs teams working inside building
12. Various shots, SARs team rescuing a woman

23 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicholas Reader, Spokesperson, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations:
“We did see some reports of people being found alive yesterday, of course everyday that goes by the chances are smaller. As long as the teams are here they will keep looking for signs of life and they will keep responding to any reports that are given but we have to accept that as the days go on the chances do get slimmer.”

FILE – OCHA - 19-20 JANUARY 2010, CARIBBEAN MARKET, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI

14. Various shots, SARs team rescue woman from rubble

Storyline

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Spokesperson Nicholas Reader today confirmed that Haiti’s government had called for an end to the search and rescue operations in Haiti.

The decision was made yesterday (22 Jan), ten days after an earthquake demolished the capital Port-au-Prince.
Reader said some of the teams who had been there since the beginning were going home, but other teams will remain in Haiti to respond to any further signs of life.

The announcement comes one day after search and rescue teams pulled an 84-year-old woman and young man out alive from the rubble.

Reader said this did not mean that the search and rescue operation was over and that as long as the teams are on the ground they would keep responding to any reports that people may still be alive, but that, “we have to accept that as the days go on the chances do get slimmer.”

He said this was one the largest search and rescue efforts ever assembled with one of the highest success rates in history. More than 1,900 search and rescue professionals and 160 dogs saved more than 120 people.

The focus will now shift on clearing the sites and helping the survivors. The Haitian government said the 7.0-magnitude quake killed an estimated 200,000 people.