Caribbean countries in rush to bury flooding victims

International aid on way to Haiti, Dominican Republic; officials fear disease from rotting corpses

By Peter Prengaman, Associated Press

JIMANI, Dominican Republic -- Dominican troops buried bodies on a tiny island surrounded by crocodiles Saturday as doctors warned of health hazards from shallow mass graves holding some of the 1,100 victims killed in floods along the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Survivors searched for food and shelter from a blistering sun that raised temperatures to 95 degrees. Governments and aid agencies flew emergency aid to what some called "one of the worst natural disasters to hit the Caribbean," according to Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria of the Organization of American States.

Venezuela sent a planeload of food, clothing and medicine along with doctors and disaster aid workers to Haiti.

A Spanish Red Cross plane Saturday left Madrid for the Dominican Republic, a former Spanish colony, carrying 12 tons of relief equipment including water-purification gear, cooking kits and two large tents to set up field hospitals.


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