Canadians having trouble reaching loved ones in Haiti might be able to help bridge the communication gap by buying cell phone minutes online.
More than 1,300 Canadians are still unaccounted for in the country. Some estimates suggest up to two million people in the country could be displaced. Many of those have not made contact because they cannot use a phone.
Survivors of Tuesday's earthquake may have no way to buy minutes to use with their pre-paid phones because roads are damaged and stores that normally sell are now rubble.
American company Trilogy International Partners owns Haiti's second largest wireless carrier Voil�. It says virtually all of its customers in the country are pre-paid subscribers.
The company said its cell phone service in the country is fully restored and traffic is high.
People outside Haiti can top up a Voil� cell phone account by going to the wireless company's website.
Users can buy minutes for the phone with a credit card. They are required to provide a specific phone number for the account they want to top up.
Wireless provider Digicel's website does not accept online payments using credit cards that do not belong to the cell phone owner.
Two million of Haiti's cell phone users are Digicel customers.
Provider HaiTel's website offers a "recharge" service, but the link was broken as of Saturday afternoon.
