Haiti Remembers Earthquake Victims

Haiti is holding observances ahead of the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake that shook the country, leaving more than 200,000 people dead, 1 million others homeless and widespread destruction.

On Tuesday, President Rene Preval presided over a ceremony on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, at a mass grave where tens of thousands of quake victims are buried. Mr. Preval was joined by other officials and by his wife as they paid their respects to the dead.

On Tuesday, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Haiti said he hopes most of the earthquake victims still living in tent camps can move to more secure housing by the end of this year.

In a conference call, Nigel Fisher said that, optimistically, the number of displaced people in the camps could be reduced by about 75 percent — from its current level of 800,000 to about 200,000 — within the year. But he stressed that is still a lot of people.

Hundreds of thousands of people already have left the camps since the earthquake destroyed homes, leaving much of Port-au-Prince in rubble. The U.N. says of the 700,000 who have moved elsewhere, about 100,000 have been relocated into 31,000 transitional shelters built since the disaster — 1,000 shelters ahead of the target.

Along with the quake recovery, Haiti is dealing with a cholera epidemic that has left more than 3,600 people dead and infected about 170,000. More cases are expected.

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