Aid rushed to Haiti survivors as 50,000 feared dead

BRITONS have been urged to support an emergency appeal for earthquake victims in Haiti in the wake of "a tragedy beyond imagination".

Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on the nation to send money to the Disaster Emergency Committee Haiti appeal as he pledged more than 6m to the relief effort.

The Queen has already made a private donation to the appeal and yesterday offered her "profound sympathy" to the people of Haiti.

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The death toll from the earthquake, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, remains unknown but relief workers estimate at least 50,000 people were killed and more than three million more need emergency aid. The epicentre was just miles from the capital Port-au-Prince, which has been devastated.

Calls for support from world leaders came as more harrowing reports from the aftermath of the quake emerged yesterday.

Bodies lay scattered on the streets, often covered by a white cloth while some survivors dragged the dust-covered dead along the roads, trying to reach a hospital where they might leave them.

At many collapsed buildings, neighbours and volunteers were excavating rubble using sledgehammers and their bare hands to try to find victims. Survivors are said to be living in the streets because they are afraid to go inside damaged buildings.

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President Barack Obama has pledged one of the biggest relief efforts in recent US history and said Haiti would "not be forgotten" in its hour of need.

The United States is sending up to 3,500 soldiers and 2,200 marines to the stricken country, and will provide an immediate $100m and further investment to aid long-term recovery, the President said.

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