As international rescue teams started the difficult task of sifting through mountains of rubble to retrieve the dead and injured yesterday, the Archbishop of Canterbury issued a call to people to pray for Haiti.

Dr Rowan Williams said he was "profoundly shocked and concerned" to hear of the devastating earthquake, which is believed to have killed as many as 100,000 people.
They are thought to include the Catholic Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Joseph Serge Miot, and the head of the UN's mission in Haiti, Hedi Annabi.

"We stand alongside all the people in Haiti affected by this terrible disaster in prayer, thought and action as the situation unfolds. We pray for the rescue of those still trapped and look towards the rebuilding of lives and communities," he said.

Bodies line the streets and with many of the hospitals destroyed or badly damaged, those still standing are struggling to treat the injured with only scant supplies of electricity, water and medicines.

A massive international relief effort is underway for Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, with the US sending more than 2,000 marines and $100 million in aid. The UK Government's Department for International Development has pledged £6.15 million, while Prime Minister Gordon Brown is urging people to donate to the appeal launched yesterday by the Disasters Emergency Committee.

DEC member Christian Aid has already dispatched £100,000 for the relief effort and has launched a £1 million emergency appeal. The Methodist Church of Great Britain has sent £20,000 and also launched an emergency appeal for more funds.

Dr Williams added: "I commend the swift action of the Department for International Development and the relief agencies in mobilising an emergency response. In this time of catastrophic loss and destruction, I urge the public to hold the people of Haiti in their prayers, and to give generously and urgently to funding appeals set up for relief work.”

With very little in the way of emergency services and the infrastructure badly damaged, many survivors remain trapped under the rubble more than two days after the earthquake struck close to the capital Port-au-Prince.

Christian blind charity CBM has voiced concern for the welfare of disabled survivors.

The charity said: "It is a sad fact that disabled people are the most vulnerable in a disaster and emergencies like these create more people with disabilities, especially physical and physiological."