Haiti earthquake death toll has reached 212,000: Prime Minister Bellerive

PORT AU PRINCE - Haiti Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive has said the death toll from last month’s catastrophic earthquake has reached 212,000, while the number of homeless may be far higher than the one million estimated by authorities.

“We have over 200,000 dead. The last number I received from my services was 212,000 people that were collected on the streets and different places,” The Telegraph quoted Bellerive, as having said.

Bellerive said the toll, already the highest on record from any natural disaster in the Americas, was likely to rise “a little bit” higher as rescue teams pull bodies from locations where demolition had been delayed, as they searched for survivors.

He also said more than 300,000 people had been injured in the disaster, and that most of them had received medical attention.

Authorities had said that about one million people were made homeless when the 7.0-magnitude quake struck the impoverished nation on January 12.

“You have to add to that number the people that before the events of January were already homeless and that are regrouping with the people that are new on this. So you should have around two million people on the streets right now,” Bellerive said.

The earthquake caused major damage to Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the region.

Many notable landmark buildings were significantly damaged or destroyed, including the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail.

Among those killed were Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot, and opposition leader Micha Gaillard.

The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), located in the capital, collapsed, killing many, including the Mission’s Chief, Hedi Annab (ANI)