VOA标准英语2010年-Haiti Buries Thousands of Its Dead in

Soon after the earthquake struck, and the search for the living had begun in Haiti, there were bodies, thousands and thousands of dead bodies. Then the burials began, not ordinary burials with traditional rituals and grief, but burials in mass graves.

The bodies were everywhere in Port-au-Prince, along streets, in collapsed¹ buildings, everywhere where ordinary people might have been when the earthquake struck. Something had to be done.

So Haitian authorities simply asked people to put their dead out in the open, where they could be picked up -- some 75,000 bodies -- destined² for mass graves. And many more yet to be buried. Officials estimate more than 100,000 more.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is among those groups and organizations that object to the mass burials. They contend the dead should be treated with greater dignity. Red Cross spokesman Bernard Barrett. "What's important is, whatever is done, must be done in a way that bodies will be eventually identified so that the families will know what happened to these people and they will not be left in uncertainty³ forever," he said.

But the burials in mass graves began admidst the chaos⁴ in Port-au-Prince, before  any system could be set in motion to identify the dead. And that has compounded Haiti's tragedy, says Dr. Jon Andrus, deputy director of Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO.  "Many, many families do not know where a missing family member is dead or alive - if dead, where they are. This really affects the grieving process. This has enormous implication on the well being and future status of people on the ground," he said.

Dr. Jon Andrus says his organization made every effort  to prevent the mass burial of bodies. The World Health Organization agrees that the management of dead has profound and long-lasting consequences for survivors⁵ and communities, and its guidelines say the most urgent task is not burying the dead after a natural disaster. 

The Red Cross's Bernard Barrett discounts the popular belief that the presence of large numbers of dead bodies after a natural disaster can cause an epidemic⁶. "This is one message that we are trying to get across that there should not be an inordinate⁷ rush to dispose off the bodies through mass graves or incineration so that families will never know what happened to these people," he said.

But Dr. Andrus from of Pan American Health Organization says the sheer magnitude of the disaster in Haiti, made the situation impossible to manage. There were just too many dead people. "We know that bodies have been buried.  We feel inappropriately, even when they have been identified and transported, when they can be, to a central location of United Nations (Logistics) Command. We are finding difficulties now adequately storing them," he said.

Officials estimate Haiti's death toll⁸ could climb to some 200,000 people, and that the 7.0 quake affected⁹ nearly a third of Haiti's entire population of nine million peole.  About 1.5 million people are homeless, and Haitian government officials say an estimated 400,000 displaced residents will be moved to new villages outside Port-au-Prince.

 

1 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

2 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

3 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

4 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

5 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

6 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

7 inordinate   

adj.无节制的；过度的

参考例句：

• The idea of this gave me inordinate pleasure.我想到这一点感到非常高兴。
• James hints that his heroine's demands on life are inordinate.詹姆斯暗示他的女主人公对于人生过于苛求。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。