PORT-AU-PRINCE (Kyodo) Haitian President Rene Preval expressed his gratitude Wednesday for Japan's medical support following the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated his country.
Preval also said in an interview after meeting with two lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Japan in Port-au-Prince that he has no idea how long it will take to reconstruct Haiti.
The two DPJ lawmakers, Yukihisa Fujita and Nobuhiko Suto, conveyed a message of sympathy from Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and expressed Japan's willingness to support Haiti's reconstruction.
Preval said that while the number of people killed or injured in the powerful earthquake remains unknown, some 70,000 bodies have been collected so far.
More bodies remain under the rubble, he said at his temporary office.
The priority now is on recovering bodies and treating the injured, said Preval.
ASDF pitching in
NAGOYA (Kyodo) An Air Self-Defense Force C-130 transport plane left Thursday morning from Komaki base in Aichi Prefecture bound for Miami to support medical efforts in Haiti.
