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Haitians remember victims of earthquake 4 years ago
Haitian President Michel Martelly (l) and first lady Sophia Martelly (r) lay a wreath at a monument in memory of the victims of the January 12, 2010 earthquake. PHOTO/Jean Marc Herve Abelard/AP
Haitians paused Sunday to remember the tens of thousands of people who died in a catastrophic earthquake 4 years ago, holding somber low-key commemorations on a national day of reflection.
President Michel Martelly and first lady Sophia Martelly placed a bouquet of white flowers at a potter’s field north of the capital of Port-au-Prince that is being turned into an official memorial for those killed.
The pair observed a minute of silence facing a plaque placed at a large piece of rubble, with the inscription: “January 12, 2010. We will never forget you.”
Martelly said much had been accomplished in Haiti since the disaster.
“Four years later, I think we have moved forward tremendously,” Martelly told reporters, noting a decline in the number of people still without housing and the number of hotels being built. “Of course, a lot remains to be done.”
The 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck outside Haiti’s capital on January 12, 2010, and thousands of buildings toppled in Port-au-Prince and surrounding cities. Officials say more than 300,000 died, but no one knows for certain how many people lost their lives.
An estimated 1.5 million people were left living in gloomy tent camps that became symbols of the devastation and desperation. The number of displaced people has since fallen to 146,000 in a decline attributed to a combination of voluntary departures, rental subsidies and evictions.
