US carrier arrives off Haiti’s coast

WASHINGTON - The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier arrived off Haiti’s coast Friday to begin humanitarian assistance following the devastating earthquake as the international rescue effort intensified.

The Nimitz-class nuclear-powered ship carried 19 helicopters that had begun ferrying food, water and other supplies into and around the capital Port-au-Prince, where the vast majority of destruction took place.

There is an urgent need to get supplies into the country following the 7.0 earthquake that rocked the impoverished Caribbean nation Tuesday, killing an estimated tens of thousands of people.

The Carl Vinson’s arrival is part of a larger US military mobilization to rush supplies into Haiti. A Marine unit of 2,200 soldiers is sailing toward the country, and US army units have already arrived with more on the way. The US has pledged $100 million

in aid to Haiti and is sending thousands of emergency rescue and military personnel.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Friday there were reports of minor looting in Port-au-Prince but that overall the security situation remains calm.

“The key is to get the food and the water in there as quickly as possible so that people don’t, in their desperation, turn to violence or lead to the security situation deteriorating,” he said.

Military cargo planes have also been flying aid into the airport, which has a limited capacity to host aircraft. The United States also has multiple search and rescue teams on the ground.

US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said the single-strip airport is capable of handling a maximum of 90 flights daily.

Port-au-Prince’s port, which was damaged during the earthquake, is unusable at the moment, Crowley said.

“It’s a severe handicap, because obviously, at some point, in order to bring in significant quantities of goods, youd like to be able to have access to the port,” he said.

Crowley confirmed that six American citizens were killed, one of them a State Department employee who worked at the embassy.

“That number is going to go up,” he said. “There’s a larger number of those who are presumed to have perished.”

At least 846 Americans have been evacuated, most of them to a US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There are an estimated 45,000 US citizens in Haiti.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama spoke by telephone with Haitian President Rene Preval Friday morning, pledging the full support of the US in the ongoing earthquake relief effort.

Obama and Preval spoke for about 30 minutes, stressing the importance of coordination as aid pours into Haiti from countries, aid organizations and the United Nations.

The two leaders had not been able to speak since Tuesday afternoon’s massive earthquake because of poor communication lines. Crowley said the United States has assigned a team to Preval with communications gear so the president can remain in contact.