Relief agencies struggle to get aid to Haiti as survivors of earthquake spend a second day without basic services

Haiti continues to grapple with one of the worst natural disasters the country has faced, two days after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed most of the capitol, Port au Prince. While the death toll is still unknown, bodies are piling up on the streets, and rescuers and civilians continue to look for people trapped in the rubble. Food and water are scarce, electricity and telecommunications continue to be down in much of the city. Many hospitals were destroyed and thousands injured have no medical care. Doctors Without Borders, which is treating people under four tents, says people have fractures, head injuries and other major trauma from the quake.

Other international aid organizations are struggling to get people and equipment to the area. Oxfam international humanitarian spokesperson Louis Belanger, spoke from Santo Domingo earlier today en route to Port Au Prince. He said the group's first priority will be to coordinate clean water and sanitation facilities for survivors of the quake. But he added that relief services still face serious challenges:

"Now flying into the country and doing aid delivery I think we're going to have to be honest and say that in the next thirty six if not forty-eight hours in terms of aid delivery will be a bit difficult just because the airport is still shut down and the infrastructure in terms of roads is still very difficult for us to operate in so in temrs of aid delivery we're looking at a bit of a pause and we're going to see that happening a little later this week,  but hopefully as soon as possible."

Many people off and on the island are still waiting to hear from missing colleagues and family members. In an effort to connect people, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has set up a special website, www.icrc.org/familylinks. People in Haiti and abroad can register relatives' names and information on the website. ICRC spokesman Marcel Izard says in the first few hours they registered more than 1,300 names:

"It's a system that we have been using since 1995, since the Bosnia War. It's quite a successful means because although phone lines are not working, through satellite you can still have access to the Internet. So far on this Internet website people can actually look for a relative they are looking for and ask for their whereabouts. Also survivors can log in and say that they are safe and well."