HTH -- Haiti Earthquake

March 3, 2010. Government Warning Issued for Haiti

SOURCE: U.S. Department of State

U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince issued the following Warden Message on March 2:

The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince advises U.S. citizens of its plans to conclude by March 31, 2010, efforts to recover and repatriate remains of U.S. citizens killed in the January 12 earthquake. Since January 12, the Embassy and other USG personnel have investigated reports of death of American citizens and have recovered, identified, and repatriated the remains to the United States in accordance with the wishes of family members of the deceased.

The inter-agency team carrying out these operations will conclude its work by March 31, 2010. Cases of U.S. citizens killed in the earthquake that come to the Embassy's attention after that date will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Any cases of U.S. citizens killed in the January 12 earthquake that have not previously been reported to the Embassy should be brought to the attention of the Consular Section as soon as possible. Reports of deceased American citizens should be provided to the Consular Section by email at ACSPaP@state.gov or by telephone at 509-2229-8000. Callers in the United States or Canada with information about an American citizen who died in the earthquake may reach the Haiti Task Force at 888-407-4747. Outside of the United States or Canada, call 202-501-4444. For further information and updates, please see the State Department's Consular Affairs website at travel.state.gov.

Background

As the Haitian government and its international partners including the United States move from the emergency response and relief phase of operations to reconstruction, many of the extraordinary resources available to assist in the recovery and repatriation of the remains of U.S. citizens (e.g., Urban Search and Rescue teams, military flights to Dover AFB) will no longer be available. While the consular section will of course work to provide family members of any deceased American citizen all appropriate assistance, their capacity to provide that assistance will be constrained by normal (i.e., pre-quake) resource levels.