Life back to normal in Haiti

Updated on : Tuesday, January 19, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Small glimmers of normal life returned to the least badly affected areas of the Haitian capital with street vendors plying their wares and taxis honking their horns in traffic.

Six days after a 7.0 earthquake killed tens of thousands "it's the first real day of activity for people they are going out to refuel and stock up on supplies," said a resident in Petionville.

Gasoline stations have reopened, attracting long lines of vehicles and people on foot holding containers. Under the hot sun, everybody is calm and uncomplaining as the fuel was in plentiful supply.

Taxis were back in business, clogging the streets with sounds of horns and Bob Marley music.Street vendors sold anything from corn flakes to batteries, toys, fruit and dollar bags of spaghetti, although locals said the price of basic foodstuffs had gone up sharply, as high as twice pre-quake levels.