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In Haiti: Fruit Roll-Ups and Scientologists to the Rescue
By
Sabrina Jaszi
Published Jan 18, 2010
Modified Jan 18, 2010
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By
Sabrina Jaszi
Published Jan 18, 2010
Modified Jan 18, 2010
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Members of NY's Urban Search and Rescue team used power tools to help pull four Haitians from the rubble of Port-au-Prince this weekend. Among them was a young girl who survived four days trapped in a grocery store. Another group, the Church of Scientology, used the texts of L. Ron Hubbard in their rescue efforts.
Since arriving in Haiti the 80-person team from NY has helped in four against-the-odds rescues. Just hours after landing members extracted two men and a young girl from the wreckage of a grocery store. The girl said she survived by eating the Haitian equivalent of fruit leather. Later on, the FDNY-NYPD squad pulled another man from where he was trapped in the top floor of a three-story apartment building. They used a rescue camera to find him, and then attacked the rubble with jackhammers and saws. "The best feeling was when he stuck his arm through the hole and he shook your hand," Detective Randy Miller told the NY Daily News. Other rescues around the city included a 2-month-old baby, CNN reported, and a Danish employee of the United Nations.
Scientologists are waging their own attempt to save the earthquake-annihilated island, which they've long targeted in their recruitment efforts. A plane full of Scientologists left JFK for Haiti on Saturday, chartered by none other than John Travolta. "I have arranged for a plane to take down some volunteer ministers and some supplies and some medics," said the Battlefield Earth star. WPIX reported that, despite the religion's dubious medical practices, 50 doctors were on board the aircraft. Hopefully they'll do more than distribute literature. According to Scientology News's Twitter, another group is on its way today.
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haiti
haiti earthquake
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john travolta
medic
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port-au-prince
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Sabrina Jaszi
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