The US military has started airdrops of food and water to quake-ravaged Haiti, delivering some 14,500 meals and 15,000 liters of water to a site just outside Port-au-Prince, the Pentagon said in a statement.
A US Air Force C-17 plane on Monday flew from Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina to a drop zone some five miles (eight kilometers) northeast of Port-au-Prince airport to deliver the aid.
The US military had been reticent to undertake aid airdrops out of concern of starting troubles on the ground, but said they were able to make the airdrop to "controlled drop zone" of where no people on the ground were endangered.
Haitian and US aid officials distributed the aid to quake survivors, the Defense Department statement said.
The international aid community is looking to make greater use of airdrops in Haiti "to create alternate distribution points that will enable aid to reach the people more quickly," the statement said.
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