Plush Haitian golf club houses thousands of refugees

In Haiti, a plush nine-hole golf course has become a tent city housing between 20,000 and 40,000 homeless people. The US 82nd Airborne Division is also using the club as its command center.

Club Petionville has a spectacular view of Port-au-Prince and the Caribbean sea beyond. It's now probably the biggest camp for displaced persons in Haiti.

Thousands cram the nine-hole golf course, and helicopters land every half an hour with crates of water and food aid.

Lane Hartill, Catholic Relief Services, siad, "It's hard to know how many people are here, we're estimating around 20 thousand during the day, but at night people come back from being in the city, so it could be upwards of 30 or 40 thousand, we do not know really."

The club is named for former Haitian President Alexandre Petion. It largely escaped damage, save a few broken pillars.

Unlike chaotic scenes elsewhere, with people fighting and scrambling for water and food, an orderly queue winds up the lawns.

Each person is allowed two bottles of water and one ready-to-eat meal ration.

The camp is not without its problems. The golf course is on a high slope, which means temperatures drop fast at night. Some children have died from the cold.

The club also houses commanders from the US military's crack 82nd Airborne Division.