Kelly Bastien, leader of Haiti’ s Senate said on January 15 that the situation in his country is “catastrophic” while also expressing fear that hunger may prove to be a scourge even worse than the January 12 earthquake. Bastien is currently recuperating in the Metropolitan Hospital of Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic from injuries he received in the quake. Said Bastien, “Now that international solidarity has begun to show up, we need lots of help and we are grateful to the Dominican Republic for everything being done for us. Like me, there are other Haitians being helped in medical centers here.”
Bastien recounted the horror of the quake when he and several other senators, along with members of the media, were in discussions at the Haitian parliament. Following the tremors, he along with others spent at least 12 hours trapped beneath rubble. He related that senators Jac Juique and Michel Lois were crushed by the second floor of the building when it collapsed.
The injured senator described Haiti as in an apocalyptic state, where thousands of corpses line the streets and the living can neither eat, or drink nor sleep. “There is no water in my country,” said Bastien, “nor enough doctors and it is possible that we will have epidemics and other incalculable situations.” President Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic spoke to Bastien today to offer his solidarity. Fernández had also spoken earlier with President Obama to describe the situation.
In Santiago, Haitians were holding signs asking for donations of blood for the survivors in their country. Some injured Haitians are trickling into Santiago, the second largest city of the Dominican Republic.
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