Haiti ends rescue phase as two more survivors found

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Haitian government has ended the search and rescue phase of the earthquake relief effort, after two more people were pulled miraculously from the rubble in the devastated capital.

Rescuer search for survivors in the debris of a medical college in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 20, 2010. The search for survivors is still underway in the city. (Xinhua/Ubaldo Gonzalez)

"The government has declared the search and rescue phase over," the United Nations' Organisation for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Saturday in its latest situation report on the relief effort, adding that at least 132 people had been rescued. 

Ten days after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit the impoverished country, an elderly woman and a young man were freed from ruins here on Friday.

Marie Carida Roman, 84 years old, was dug out from the remains of her home by her son and neighbors with bare hands. The 22-hour rescue came after her son heard her faint call for help on Thursday morning. The other survivor, a 22-year-old man, was rescued by the Israeli rescue team on the same day.

Hopes that others may have survived are fading, and the Haitian Interior Ministry said Friday the death toll had surpassed 110,000.

The ministry said nearly 200,000 people were injured and more than 600,000 left homeless after the quake hit the small Caribbean nation on Jan. 12. Haitian officials estimated that the final death toll could reach 200,000.

Also on Friday, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on the international community to provide "speedy, sustainable and adequate" support for Haiti.

Approving the resolution by consensus, the 192-member body called for an early international response to the U.N. flash appeal of 575 million U.S. dollars for Haiti.

The General Assembly urged all relevant U.N. bodies and international financial institutions and development agencies to offer "continued effective humanitarian, technical and financial assistance."

Through the resolution, the assembly expressed its solidarity and support to the government and people of Haiti as well as to all member states that have lost nationals in this catastrophe.