Snapshot: Haiti Earthquake

PORT-AU-PRINCE - Troops and planeloads of food and medicine streamed into Haiti on Thursday to aid a shattered nation still rattled by aftershocks from the catastrophic earthquake that flattened homes and government buildings and buried countless people.

NEWS

* The Haitian Red Cross says it believes 45,000 to 50,000 people died and 3 million more were hurt or left homeless by quake that hit Haiti's capital on Tuesday.

* Haitian President Rene Preval says mass burials of the dead have begun.

* Planes full of supplies arrive at the Port-au-Prince airport more quickly than ground crews can unload them.

* Aviation authorities restrict flights from U.S. airspace for fear planes would run out of fuel while waiting to land.

* Haiti faces dangerous vacuum in security and government, with looting and lawlessness.

* Haitians put rags and masks over their faces as the stench from rotting bodies rises.

* Many people believed still trapped alive in the rubble.

* Haitians wander streets of Port-au-Prince searching desperately for water, food and medical help.

* U.S. President Barack Obama enlists the help of former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton in Haiti relief effort and pledges $100 million for relief.

* United States sending 3,500 soldiers, 300 medical personnel, several ships and 2,200 Marines.

* International Monetary Fund will immediately make available $100 million to Haiti.

* Haiti's main prison also collapsed, allowing dangerous criminals to escape.

QUOTES

"There is no one in our country capable of sorting this out. Everyone is looking after their own families. Only the world can come to our rescue." -- Haitian shop owner Edner Baptiste.

"To the people of Haiti, we say clearly and with conviction, you will not be forsaken. You will not be forgotten. In this, your hour of greatest need, America stands with you. The world stands with you." -- U.S. President Barack Obama

"So far, they have brought us nothing. We need water, food, shelter, everything, but we are on our own." -- local resident Jean Malesta

"The problem is that unlike traditional disaster situations we have few local partners to work with, because most of them have had their buildings destroyed and are looking for their own dead and missing." -- Margaret Aguirre of International Medical Corps