10:07am UK, Saturday January 16, 2010

James Jordan, Sky News Online

At least £346m is needed to help the three million people badly affected by the Haiti earthquake, the United Nations has said.

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes launched the emergency request for food, water, shelter and other desperately needed essentials for the next six months.

The Haiti government said Tuesday’s earthquake could have killed up to 200,000 people.

And it is feared many more have been injured, orphaned or made homeless.

Aid workers reported seeing piles of bodies in the streets and children sleeping among the dead, while the grief-stricken try to dig their relatives from the rubble with their bare hands.

Sky’s Robert Nisbet said there was increasing frustration on the streets of capital Port-au-Prince about the levels of aid getting through.

He said: “Bodies still litter the streets, and tented cities have sprung up in communities across the flattened capital.

“While aid has now arrived in Haiti, the airport is saturated and infrastructure damage means supplies are not reaching those who need them most.”

Haiti has handed over control of its airport to US forces, as they battle to get aid flowing into the country.

But, despite the devastation, there are some glimpses of hope, after British firefighters managed to pull a two-year-girl from a collapsed building.

The young girl, called Mia, was trapped under piles of rubble in Port-au-Prince and was rescued on the first full day of deployment for the 64-strong team.

Mike Thomas, chief officer of the fire and rescue team, said: “This is a real boost to us all. This is what we do the job for.

“The conditions we are working in our pretty dire. The local people have no food and water and are suffering in more ways than one.”

International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander added: “I know that everyone in Britain will share my pride at the vital and dangerous work being carried out by these brave firefighters in Haiti’s hour of need. They are truly inspirational.”

Mia’s rescue was a few hours after Spanish crews reached another two-year-old child, Redjeson Hausteen Claude.

A two-year-old boy is rescued from the rubble and reunited with his mother

Meanwhile, relatives of a British woman missing in disaster-struck Haiti said they fear the worst as rescuers desperately search for survivors among the rubble.

UN worker Ann Barnes, 59, has been unaccounted for since the building she was in collapsed.

US President Barack Obama acknowledged that the initial relief efforts had not been quick enough and promised an increase in delivery of water and other supplies.

Click here to watch a survivor’s video of the devastation as people gather in a makeshift camp

“There are going to be many difficult days ahead,” said Mr Obama.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced she would visit Haiti on Saturday to meet President Rene Preval and other Haitian leaders.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will arrive in the country on Sunday.