Survivors struggle while awaiting aid

Haiti (AP) — Desperately needed aid from around the world began arriving Thursday in quake-stunned Haiti, while rescuers struggled frantically to save the trapped and injured, using pickup trucks as ambulances and doors as stretchers.

President Barack Obama said "one of the largest relief efforts in our recent history" is moving toward Haiti, with thousands of troops and a broad array of civilian rescue workers deployed to aid the stricken country — backed by more than $100 million in relief funds.

To the Haitians, Obama promised: "You will not be forsaken."

In the streets of the capital, survivors set up camps amid piles of salvaged goods, including food scavenged from the rubble.

"This is much worse than a hurricane," said Jimitre Coquillon, a doctor's assistant working at a triage center set up in a hotel parking lot. "There's no water. There's nothing. Thirsty people are going to die."

Obama promised Haitians an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort, including the military and civilian emergency teams from across the U.S., adding that America — and the world — "stands with you."

Associated Press contributors to this story: Jonathan Katz and Jennifer Kay in Port-au-Prince; Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations; Frank Jordans and Bradley S. Klapper in Geneva; Jenny Barchfield in Paris; Pauline Jelinek in Washington; Tales Azzoni in Sao Paulo.

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