Hti-DR: Aid comes, 1000 feared dead

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Helicopters loaded with drinking water and medicine touched down in remote villages devastated by floods Friday as Haiti and the Dominican Republic struggled to recover from a disaster that left at least 1,000 dead and hundreds missing.

On the Dominican side, another 23 bodies were recovered overnight near the border town of Jimani, where corpses were washing downstream into a saltwater lake crowded with crocodiles.

In Haiti, bodies floated near the tops of palm trees, and thousands of survivors were isolated by mudslides. Rains returned Thursday and forecasters were predicting more for Friday.

With few roads passable and only 14 helicopters, troops were trying to find other ways to reach the needy, said Lt. Col. Dave Lapan, spokesman for the U.S-led multinational force in Haiti.

Helicopters that went in Friday carried inflatable rubber boats and shovels and pick axes to allow troops and relief workers to reach far-flung villages, he said.

The U.N. World Food Program loaded some 8,000 tons of food onto a helicopter bound on Friday for the southern town of Mapou, where most houses were under water and some 1,000 people were feared dead.