CARIBARENA Antigua & Barbuda

RICO Dibrivell clung to life for 12 days under the rubble of Haiti's destroyed capital - a feat that puts him in the front ranks of earthquake survivors.

US soldiers were stunned yesterday when they pulled the 35-year-old alive from the ruins.

He was not buried by the 7.0-magnitude quake that struck on January 12 but two days later, perhaps by one of the massive aftershocks that were common in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

Rescuers treated Mr Dibrivell for a broken leg and severe dehydration when they found him in a collapsed building on the aptly named Rue de Miracles.

The US military said he survived on small amounts of water and was said to be amazingly well considering his ordeal - the longest of any Haiti quake survivor so far.

Mr Dibrivell's story almost matches that of Filipino hotel cook Pedrito Dy, who was recovered alive 14 days after the Luzon quake of 1990.

Luisa Mallorca and Arnel Calabia survived 11 days after being buried by the same disaster.

All three survived in part by drinking their own urine.

Port-au-Prince was rattled by two new tremors yesterday, two weeks after the deadly earthquake that killed at least 150,000 people, scaring a weary and destitute people from their improvised beds in makeshift camps.

"We just can't get used to these quakes - each aftershock is terrifying and everyone is afraid," exhausted trader Edison Constant said.

The US Geological Survey, which has warned the beleaguered Caribbean nation to expect tremors for the next month, measured the second tremor at 4.4.

People are becoming more resigned to aftershocks, shuffling out under heavy, humid skies to rejoin queues outside money transfer agencies, banks, immigration offices and aid distribution centres.

In the Cite Soleil slum, several thousand desperate people converged on a police compound to receive sacks of relief supplies, surging against the steel gates as officials struggled to let them in one by one.

All across the city, ad hoc street committees have hung imploring banners in English and French - "SOS", "We need help here" and "We need food and water" - in desperate attempts to attract the attention of aid agencies.

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The US military has assumed a dominant role in the aid operation, and has been largely welcomed by Haitians.

But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was forced to defend the operation from criticism that it had been badly co-ordinated and agencies' efforts had been too heavy-handed in the immediate aftermath.

"I deeply resent those who attack our country, the generosity of our people and the leadership of our president in trying to respond to historically disastrous conditions after the earthquake," Ms Clinton said in Washington.

Some 20,000 US troops have been sent to Haiti to distribute food and water.

Meanwhile, the UN children's agency, UNICEF, has established a special tent camp for girls and boys separated from their parents, and who are in danger of falling prey to child traffickers and other abusers.

 

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