Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
Little hope remains for Canadians trapped under hotel
Jorge Barrera, Canwest News Service: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 7:21 PM
Excerpt:
"The Montana Hotel was a favourite destination for foreigners visiting Port-au-Prince. It sits in an upper section of the city where, before the earthquake, it must have been an oasis from the bustle of the capital, with houses overlooking a lush green valley across rising to the edges of the municipality of Petionville.
It is now the centre of a major recovery operation involving crews from Brazil, Chile and Iceland, among others.
The hotel is completely flattened. It was built on a foundation of brick and sand, said Valdiva. Very little rebar was used to reinforce the concrete ? which, on close inspection, appears soft enough to pull apart with bare hands.
"If it rains . . ." said Valdiva, and sighs without finishing his sentence.
His team has pulled four bodies from the hotel. One woman, the owner's wife, was pulled out alive Sunday, having survived by drinking her own urine, he said.
He doubts there are any survivors left.
"We've searched with dogs and listened if there were voices," he said. "No positive results."
Valdiva said they face a difficult task retrieving those that remain. Heavy machinery is needed.
"We have accessed various points where there are bodies, but we can't get them out," he said.
Valdiva said the hotel could hold about 180 people and it was near 45 per cent capacity when the earthquake hit. "A lot of people, a lot of people," he said.
Canadians Anne Chabot, Alexandre Bitton, Claude Chamberland, Roger Gosselin, Katherine Hadley, Anne Labelle, former MP Serge Marcil, Richard Proteau and Paquerette Tremblay were last known to be at the hotel before the earthquake.
One of Valdiva's superiors said 22 people have been taken alive out of the building and 10 bodies have been recovered. As of Saturday morning none of the bodies were Canadian, he said ? before asking a UN soldier from the Philippines to escort a reporter off the site."
Full article at:
http://www.globaltvbc.com/world/Little+hope+remains+Canadians+trapped+under+hotel/2461297/story.html
Jorge Barrera, Canwest News Service: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 7:21 PM
Excerpt:
"The Montana Hotel was a favourite destination for foreigners visiting Port-au-Prince. It sits in an upper section of the city where, before the earthquake, it must have been an oasis from the bustle of the capital, with houses overlooking a lush green valley across rising to the edges of the municipality of Petionville.
It is now the centre of a major recovery operation involving crews from Brazil, Chile and Iceland, among others.
The hotel is completely flattened. It was built on a foundation of brick and sand, said Valdiva. Very little rebar was used to reinforce the concrete ? which, on close inspection, appears soft enough to pull apart with bare hands.
"If it rains . . ." said Valdiva, and sighs without finishing his sentence.
His team has pulled four bodies from the hotel. One woman, the owner's wife, was pulled out alive Sunday, having survived by drinking her own urine, he said.
He doubts there are any survivors left.
"We've searched with dogs and listened if there were voices," he said. "No positive results."
Valdiva said they face a difficult task retrieving those that remain. Heavy machinery is needed.
"We have accessed various points where there are bodies, but we can't get them out," he said.
Valdiva said the hotel could hold about 180 people and it was near 45 per cent capacity when the earthquake hit. "A lot of people, a lot of people," he said.
Canadians Anne Chabot, Alexandre Bitton, Claude Chamberland, Roger Gosselin, Katherine Hadley, Anne Labelle, former MP Serge Marcil, Richard Proteau and Paquerette Tremblay were last known to be at the hotel before the earthquake.
One of Valdiva's superiors said 22 people have been taken alive out of the building and 10 bodies have been recovered. As of Saturday morning none of the bodies were Canadian, he said ? before asking a UN soldier from the Philippines to escort a reporter off the site."
Full article at:
http://www.globaltvbc.com/world/Little+hope+remains+Canadians+trapped+under+hotel/2461297/story.html