Palestinian, Lebanese survivors relive Haiti quake terror

More than a dozen Middle Eastern citizens who lived through Haiti's earthquake arrived in Beirut on Thursday, mourning lost loved ones who were buried in the rubble and nursing broken bones.

The Middle East Airlines flight took aid to Haiti and returned with 15 Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians who were greeted by relatives on landing in Beirut. Latin America and the Caribbean are home to hundreds of thousands of people of Lebanese and Syrian origin.

Najib Tarazi, a Palestinian, was working at a supermarket in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, when the earth shifted beneath his feet on Jan. 12.

"The roof fell on me," said Tarazi, who suffered broken bones and was taken away in an ambulance Thursday. "I stayed in the rubble for seven hours until they found me."

The earthquake killed some 200,000 people, according to Haitian government figures relayed by the European Commission. The commission now estimates 2 million people are homeless, and that 250,000 are in need of urgent aid.

Lebanese citizen Nancy Yahya said she was at home with her children in Haiti when the house started shaking.

"I said, 'It's over. We are dead,'" Yahya said. "I thank God that we survived."

Rasha Hachem, a Syrian woman who said three of her relatives were killed and were still buried under the rubble, covered her face and wept Thursday as relatives tried to comfort her.

The Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdul-Karim Ali, said two Syrian citizens, a couple, were killed in Haiti's earthquake. Lebanon's Foreign Ministry said a Lebanese woman was also killed.