Fuel shortages cause jams at Haiti gas stations

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Fuel shortages are creating long lines at gas stations in the devastated Haitian capital by earthquake survivors desperate to fill up to drive injured loved ones to the hospital or flee the city.

Last week's 7.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed businesses in Port-au-Prince, including companies that import gasoline and truck it to service stations.

Many motorists say they have tried for days to fill their empty tanks or jerrycans at service stations that jacked up prices and rationed gasoline sales.

Most of the people swarming the wrecked streets of Port-au-Prince are doing so on foot because their motorcycles or cars have run dry.

"I have several people hurt in my house and need fuel to take them to hospital or at least buy food, water and bandages. This is my fourth time trying to buy gas," said Serge Basler, 50, in a crowd at a Total gas station on Monday.

"I just have to keep trying, I have no choice," he said.

World leaders have promised massive amounts of assistance to rebuild Haiti since the earthquake killed as many as 200,000 people and left the capital in ruins.

Lack of fuel has hampered the distribution of emergency food rations, water and medical supplies by road, leading the U.S. military to resort to airdrops from helicopters.

"Fuel has become a critical issue in terms of being able to get vehicles with water and food out to people," a spokeswoman for the World Food Program, Emilia Casella, said in Geneva.

Many residents say they would have fled the capital, where hundreds of thousands are suffering from food shortages and looters are on the rampage in parts of town, to stay with relatives in the countryside if they could fill up their cars.

Ports that import gasoline were functioning normally, according to the U.S. Army, but many of the capital's fuel stations were closed either because their tanks have run dry or due to staffing or logistical problems.

Armed police guarded those that were functioning and pump attendants tried to keep shouting crowds in order as priority was given to ambulances, rescue trucks, foreign aid agencies and media crews.

"The problem is not a lack of gasoline, it's that the fuel companies were hit by the earthquake, their offices are gone, their supply logistics are gone," said fuel station manager Paul Renand, 45.

"We have been rationing and prioritizing but we will run dry tomorrow. I have called a driver directly and I'm expecting a delivery of 8,000 gallons (30,000 liters) any time from tomorrow."

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, editing by Anthony Boadle and Eric Beech)