Witnesses Describe 'Catastrophic' Aftermath of Haiti Earthquake
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Witnesses to Tuesday's "catastrophic" earthquake in Haiti say victims have been buried in the rubble of collapsed buildings.
A reporter for Reuters news agency said he saw dozens of dead and injured people in the debris, which blocked streets in the capital Port-au-Prince.
"Everything started shaking, people were screaming, houses started collapsing. ... It's total chaos," Joseph Guyler Delva said. "I saw people under the rubble, and people killed."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Others described seeing "a cloud of dust" above Port-au-Prince and "many, many" buildings collapsed.
Joel Trimble, a missionary in Haiti, said: "It felt like a train was coming down the road. ... I went outside and the vehicle in the driveway was rocking, glass breaking all around the house.
Trimble also described a house that had collapses and efforts to rescue an elderly woman from the rubble.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Down in the city, many, many, many buildings had collapsed," he said. There's a cloud of dust over Port-au-Prince right now."
A reporter for the AFP agency said a tractor was already at the scene trying to dig out victims.
Many people fled onto the streets of the impoverished country in panic.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A U.S. government official in Haiti reported seeing houses that had tumbled into a ravine.
"Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken," said Henry Bahn, a visiting official with the US Department of Agriculture.