PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Twenty armed men blocked a road and tried to hijack a convoy of food for earthquake victims but were driven off by police gunfire, U.N. officials said Tuesday as they warned of security problems in a still-desperate nation. No injuries were reported.
The attack on the convoy as it carried supplies from an airport in the southern town of Jeremie underscored the shaky safety in the streets that has added to Haitians’ frustration at the slow pace of aid since the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Most quake victims are still living outside in squalid tents of sheets and sticks, and aid officials acknowledge they have not yet gotten food to a majority of those in need. Mobs have stolen food and looted goods from their neighbors in the camps, prompting many to band together or stay awake at night to prevent raids.
Haitian police have increased their own patrols and are accompanying U.N. police guarding aid distribution.
“The overall security situation across the country remains stable but potentially volatile,” the U.N. mission said in a statement Tuesday.
In Jacmel, also a southern city, 33 escaped prisoners were apprehended Sunday, the U.N. said. Many inmates fled when prisons collapsed.
Haiti’s government also has had to deal with the 10 Americans who tried to take a busload of undocumented Haitian children out of the country.
The Idaho-based church group was being held without charges at a police station, where a judge met with them and a lawyer Tuesday, said Communications Minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue.
Prime Minister Max Bellerive has said they could be prosecuted in the United States because Haiti’s shattered court system may not be able to cope with a trial. U.S. Embassy officials would not say whether that was possible.
At SOS Children’s Village orphanage, where authorities were protecting the 33 children found with the Americans, regional director Patricia Vargas said so far, workers had not found any children who said they were actually orphans. Parents apparently handed some over to the church group in hopes that they would have a better life.
Across the capital, Haitians have voiced anger over the hasty burials of earthquake victims.
Many Haitians believe that bodies must be properly buried and remembered by relatives and family so their spirits can pass on to heaven. Many voodoo practitioners believe that improper burials can trap spirits between two worlds.
How to help
Want to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti? Aid organizations say cash donations are best. Here are some of the many that are accepting contributions:
American Friends Service Committee: 888-588-2372
American Red Cross: 800-HELP-NOW
CARE: 800-521-CARE
Catholic Relief Services: 877-HELP-CRS
Habitat for Humanity: 800-422-4828
Operation Blessing: 800-730-2537
Oxfam America: 800-778-9326
Project CURE: 303-792-0729
Save the Children: 800-728-3843
United Way: 703-836-7112
UNICEF: 800-4UNICEF
For a list of many other agencies, go to
