Local Musician Trapped In Haitian Rubble
Mark Stuart: Bodies Being Sawed In Half To Get Through Wreckage
POSTED: 5:35 pm CST January 15, 2010
UPDATED: 11:54 pm CST January 15, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Thirty miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, it's a nightmare for residents of the Caribbean town of Jacmel. That's where a local musician is trapped.
So far, most relief efforts have been focused in Port-au-Prince, where a 7.0 earthquake hit Tuesday."It's hard, it's hard to see your friends in that situation, but truthfully, I know that he and his wife are there for a reason," said Christ Cotton of his friend Mark Stuart, who is trapped in Jacmel.Stuart is the lead singer of Nashville-based, Grammy-winning Christian group Audio Adrenaline. About a week ago, he traveled to Haiti for mission work as a part of the Hands and Feet Project, a nonprofit he started."There's about 2,000 people who've died in collapsed buildings," Stuart said via Skype.He told Channel 4 Jacmel can't get help because mountains that provided access to them have collapsed, and there's no relief for the thousands badly wounded."We had 20,000 injuries, and we don't have a bandage at the hospital," said Stuart. "We're out of bandages, we're out of medicine and we're in a desperate situation."Right now, various agencies are working to divert some ships and planes backed up in Port-au-Prince to Jacmel."If we don't get supplies in here quickly, you're going to see some major problems," said Stuart.Stuart said frustration and desperation are growing, the smell is unbearable and people are sifting through debris to find their loved ones."They're having to saw their bodies in half just to get them out of the rubble because we have no equipment here," Stuart said.Cotton said he and others in Nashville are working with Rep. Jim Cooper's office to get Stuart and his wife back home.Click here find out more about the Hands and Feet Project and how you can donate to people in Jacmel.
Previous Stories:
- January 15, 2010: Haitian Student Waits To Hear From Family
- January 14, 2010: Reverend's Brother Dies In Haiti Quake
- January 14, 2010: Local Church Workers Evacuated From Haiti
- January 14, 2010: Grocers Collect Funds, Donate To Haiti
- January 14, 2010: Mid-State Haitians Pray, Wait For News
- January 13, 2010: Tennesseans In Haiti When Quake Struck
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