STORY: HAITI/ AMERICANS EVACUATION
TRT: 2.17
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ CREOLE / NATS
DATELINE: 19 JANUARY 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
SHOTLIST:
1. Wide shot, facade of US embassy in Port-au-Prince
2. Pan left, soldier standing in US Embassy pan to people waiting outside
3. Med shot, American flag
4. Med shot, man with a megaphone announcing that Americans with passports can
proceed directly to the airport
5. Med shot, man holding a passport to a consular guard
6. SOUNDBITE (English) US Resident from New Jersey:
"Yes, I have a big pain here, there, my wife also and my kids. So I am trying to reach
there, but nobody wants to answer. What am I supposed to do?"
7. Med shot, woman with baby handing papers over to consular guard
8. Med shot, papers pan to guard who says "what happened to your passport?"
9. Med shot, woman holding her passport
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Victim without a passport:
"I want a go because my child is dying. She won't eat or drink. We sleep on the ground
under a mango tree because our house fell down."
11. Wide shot, soldiers walk by Haitians trying to flee
12. Wide shot, woman walking with 2 children
13. Wide shot, exterior of international airport
14. Med shot, American Airlines sign
15. Wide shot, people gathered with luggage at airport entrance
16. Med shot, VIP boarding sign
17. Wide shot, crowd at the airport entrance
18. Wide shot, crowd at the airport
19. Wide shot, elderly man and grandson approaching immigration people
20. Med shot, two men with an immigration official
21. Wide shot, lines to board the planes
22. Wide shot, tail end of American Airlines plane
23. SOUNDBITE (English) US resident from Florida
"I need to go to Fort Lauderdale, but I have no idea where we're going. We could land
anywhere."
24. Med shot, small girl on the tarmac
25. Wide shot, tail end of Air Force plane zoom out
26. Wide shot, plane in the sky
STORYLINE
Hundreds of American citizens have been lining up at the US embassy in Port-au-Prince
frantically trying to get on flights away from the chaos and the destruction, one week
after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastated the Haitian Capital.
Those waiting to be evacuated - some sustaining injuries - expressed frustration at the
slow pace of the proceedings.
SOUNDBITE (English) US Resident from New Jersey:
"Yes, I have a big pain here, there, my wife also and my kids. So I am trying to reach
there, but nobody wants to answer. What am I supposed to do?"
Priority is given to women and children, but many Haitian women who had children
while residing in the United States are facing a bureaucratic vacuum as their children
hold American passports, but they do not.
SOUNDBITE (English) Victim without a passport:
"I want a go because my child is dying. She won't eat or drink. We sleep on the ground
under a mango tree because our house fell down."
Meanwhile, at the airport, people hoping to get on a flight to the United States face
similar hurdles; available seats are limited and reserved to those who can prove their
immigration status. Choosing a specific destination in the United States is not an option.
SOUNDBITE (English) US resident from Florida
"I need to go to Fort Lauderdale, but I have no idea where we're going. We could land
anywhere."
An estimated 45,000 Americans were residing in Haiti at the time of the earthquake; 28
have been confirmed among the dead while thousands remain unaccounted for.