'Major Casualties' Feared in Haitian School Building Collapse

The collapse occurred in Petionville, near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. The school could have as many as 700 people in it, one rescue official said.

"We are looking at major casualties here," said Alex Claudon, a Red Cross official on the scene.

Claudon said dozens of students appeared to be trapped inside but couldn't give an exact number. However, he said it was a typical school day and the building had been crowded.

Most of the students range in age from about 10 to 20, he said, but there are younger ones as well.

Michaele Gédéon, president of Haiti's Red Cross, said she heard the voices of distraught children as rescuers tried to calm them down while she was on the phone attempting to coordinate emergency rescue efforts.

"On the phone you can hear so many children, you know, crying, crying and saying, 'This one is dead, that one is dead,' " Gédéon said.

Claudon said hundreds of bystanders and rescue workers were digging through the rubble. But he said, "What we need right now is heavy search-and-rescue equipment."

Survivors have been extricated, officials said.

Along with the Red Cross and bystanders, government, medical and humanitarian groups and U.N. and U.S. officials are helping.

Source: CNN