UK rallies round after earthquake hits Haiti

UK sends troops, reinforcements for aid

Travel Insurance News - 14/01/2010

<< Icy weather continues to affect travellers around Europe | Travel News | Air passengers affected by cold snap entitled for refund >>

Earlier this week Haiti was struck by an earthquake measuring 7.0-magnitude, killing and seriously injuring thousands of people. The earthquake hit just south of Caribbean capital city Port-au-Prince.

This natural disaster comes as the latest in a series of major hardships that the people of Haiti have been forced to face. The country has been seriously affected by a large number of natural disasters in recent years and after many years of political instability Haiti’s nine million residents are simply unable to make the necessary repairs to their homes as many are impoverished.

However, help has come from a number of different UK agencies, who have volunteered to give up their time and risk their lives in order to help the people of Haiti locate friends and family and do their best to repair some of the seemingly overwhelming damage that has been done by the earthquake.

In a recent interview, Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated that: "I am deeply saddened and worried about the reported scale of the earthquake in Haiti. I am sending a message of sympathy and support to President Preval and we are sending a team from the Department for International Development to assess the humanitarian needs. We stand ready to provide whatever humanitarian assistance is required."

A team of more than 60 firefighters from across the UK has recently volunteered to fly out to the quake zone, and more volunteers are expected to join them as news spreads of the damage that has been done to this already impoverished country.

<< Icy weather continues to affect travellers around Europe | Travel News | Air passengers affected by cold snap entitled for refund >>