Earthquake in Haiti: two brothers reunited after the rescue of one of them

People searching for the missing in the rubble in Les Cayes (Illustrative image).

© STANLEY LOUIS / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

The race against time continues in the city of Les Cayes in an attempt to save the rubble of possible survivors from the earthquake that devastated southwestern Haiti on Saturday, August 14, 8:30 a.m. local time.

It is in this city that two brothers were able to be reunited after the inhabitants were able to rescue his brother from the rubble.

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With our special correspondent in Les Cayes,

Amélie Baron

Faced with the ruin that his family home has become, Marcel François, 30, feels miraculous: “

For me, it's a grace, only God allowed me to go out, and also my phone, because I was able to report to people outside where I was located precisely so that they could intervene. 

"

On the other end of the line, her little brother Job, 27.

He was on a bus when the earthquake hit, so he immediately tried to contact his family.

I managed to reach my big brother and he said

'come and save me, I'm under the concrete'.

Neither one nor two, I hopped off the bus and hopped on a motorbike and ran as fast as I could to see how I could save him. 

"

The fear of having lost your daughter

With neighbors and the sheer strength of their arms, they managed to get Marcel out of the rubble after 3 a.m.

He was in shock because his 10 month old daughter was still under the concrete slabs.

 It was sure to me that my child was dead.

I was crying when I was taken to the hospital, I was resigned to having lost it.

But when I was released from the hospital, someone who knew me told me that she was not dead.

There I was a little relieved. 

"

10-month-old Ruth Marlee Allyah was pulled unharmed from the rubble 4 hours after the earthquake.

The tenant of the François brothers, a 27-year-old woman, on the other hand, died instantly in the collapse of the two-story house.

►Also read: Earthquake in Haiti: Cuban doctors as reinforcements in a situation of extreme emergency

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  • Haiti

  • Earthquake in Haiti

  • Natural disasters