A Haitian policeman arrests looters in a street of Port-au-Prince
Quake desperation: Witnesses are reporting chaos as authorities fail to take control of the streets
The UN says the catastrophe has left affected regions with little infrastructure.
Looting has turned violent in Haiti's shattered capital Port-au-Prince, with a mob of about 1,000 people fighting for goods in a central street, according to a journalist.
The United Nations says the earthquake, which officials say has killed at least 50,000 people and left 1.5 million homeless, is the worst is it has ever confronted. The country was again rocked by a strong 4.5-magnitude aftershock overnight.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has met with the Haitian President, Rene Preval, in Port-au-Prince.
"I want to assure the people of Haiti that the United States is a friend, a partner and a supporter," she said after the meeting.
"We will work with your government under the direction of President Preval to assist in every way we can."
Photographer Carlos Barria says men with stones, knives and hammers are now battling to grab T-shirts, bags, toys and any other items they can find in destroyed houses and shops.
Police present earlier were nowhere to be seen.
"It's anarchy there now, total chaos. The police have gone away," Mr Barria said.
"They are fighting, hitting each other, throwing stones at each other."
Looting was sporadic in the first few days after Wednesday's earthquake, but now appears to be spreading.
Witnesses are reporting chaos in areas across the city, as authorities fail to take control of the streets and the desperation of refugees still waiting for aid spills over.
The United Nations has confirmed its chief in Haiti, Hedi Annabi, has been found dead among rubble.
Mr Annabi, from Tunisia, was believed to be 65.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has also confirmed the death of Mr Annabi's deputy, Brazilian Luiz Carlos da Costa.
Operation Unified Response
The US military has named its relief mission to the country Operation Unified Response.
Ten thousand US soldiers are pouring into Haiti in a desperate race against time to bring food and water to survivors.
Chief Master Sergeant Ty Foster, from the US Air Force, says people are getting desperate.
"Their food and water is running out down town. Electricity is spotty. Fuel is running out in town," he said.
"We want to get aid to those people ASAP. We want to prevent destruction and crime taking away the supplies we're trying to get to the people who need it."
Earlier, about 10 US helicopters were seen flying over Port-au-Prince, landing in open spaces to throw out boxes of water-bottles and ready-to-eat meals.
However most Haitians appeared clueless about what to do with the food packages, witnesses said.
US President Barack Obama, who says the tragedy in Haiti "defies comprehension", has enlisted former US presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton to spearhead private fundraising efforts.
Mr Bush says the best way for individuals to help is to send money.
"I know a lot of people want to send blankets, or water - just send your cash," he said.
"That money will go to organisations on the ground who will be able to effectively spend it."
The US Government has already contributed $US100 million, but Mr Clinton says the need for more money is urgent.
"Right now all we need to do is get food and medicine and water and a secure place for them to be," he said.
"We want to do what I did with the president's father in the tsunami area. We want to be a place where people can know their money will be well spent."
No signs of aid
On a Port-au-Prince soccer field that is now a refuge for the homeless, young medical student Gilbert Wilkins is doing his best with any medical supplies he can scrounge.
But he says there has been no signs of aid delivery and he has been forced to stitch open wounds together without aesthetic or antibiotics.
"You can imagine putting stitches in someone without any aesthetic. You just try to do it without anything, so you can imagine how it's hard," he said.
He says he is worried about the threat of infection and the people relying on him are desperate.
CARE Australia worker Paul Shanahan, a water sanitation and hygiene specialist, is flying out to Port-au-Prince today.
He says the disaster response will be even harder to operate than in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
"You've got an area of high-density population, with buildings not built to earthquake-proof standards," Mr Shanahan said.
"So although the death toll probably wouldn't reach the tsunami, it will still be quite high.
"The logistical difficulties and just the practical difficulties of getting a response operating will be much, much harder."
He says providing clean water will be crucial over the coming days.
"You can only last a few days without a clean water supply and disease is a threat that's going to take vulnerable people off fairly quickly," Mr Shanahan said.
The United States military is trying to find a solution to the supply bottle-neck at Port-au-Prince airport, as Haitians struggle to survive what the United Nations has described as the worst disaster it has ever confronted.
The USS Carl Vinson is now situated about 15 kilometres off the Haiti coast and its aircraft have been dropping supplies, so many in fact they have run out.They are not the only navy ship in the region and they are waiting for more supplies from Guantanamo Bay.
But Rear Admiral Ted Branch says he is frustrated that there are supplies sitting at Port-au-Prince airport brought in by other agencies, which they can not get out.
He says he would like to use the navy's choppers but the coordination on the ground just is not there.
A UN spokeswoman has said earthquake is the worst disaster ever confronted by the organisation, pointing out that the catastrophe has left affected regions with little infrastructure.
"This is a historic disaster. We have never been confronted with such a disaster in the UN memory. It is like no other," Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said.
A UN assessment team surveying three towns to the west of Port-au-Prince found that Leogane, with a population of 134,000, was "the worst affected area with 80 to 90 per cent of buildings damaged."
"According to the local police, between 5,000 to 10,000 people have been killed and most bodies are still in the collapsed buildings," Ms Byrs said.
"No local government infrastructure remains."
The assessment team also surveyed Carrefour, which has 334,000 inhabitants, and found that 40 to 50 per cent of buildings in the town's worst-affected areas had been destroyed.
Meanwhile in Gressier, which has 25,000 inhabitants, around 40 to 50 per cent of the buildings - including the police station - had been destroyed.
"Search and rescue teams are in these areas," said Ms Byrs, who stressed that there was an "urgent need for medical care."
Rescue efforts are however being hindered by three major constraints - transport, communications and fuel.
The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is expected in Haiti tomorrow to see the situation for herself.
Mrs Clinton says she will meet Haiti's President and American civilian and military leaders.
"We will also be conveying very directly and personally to the Haitain people our long term, unwavering support, solidarity and sympathies, to reinforce President Obama's message that they are not facing this crisis alone," she said.
US Navy Commander Ron Flanders, who is coordinating the relief effort from Florida, says navy helicopters are vital for the mission.
"We have right now 19 helicopters at our disposal off the USS Carl Vinson that will be available to lift supplies and move them around to the people that need them," he said.
"If the roads are impassable helicopters can be used and the helicopter can be quite valuable as a tool to get these supplies rapidly to the people that need them."
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