Death toll from Haiti earthquake rises to 2,189

By Rumi Samuel Published on August 19, 2021

According to the Caribbean nation's civil protection agency, the death toll from Haiti's terrible earthquake over the weekend has increased to 2,189.

According to the updated toll, more than 12,260 people were injured when the quake hit the southwestern part of Haiti on Saturday, about 160km west of the capital Port-au-Prince.

332 individuals have been reported missing, according to the civil protection office, and rescue attempts are still underway.

Tens of thousands of buildings were destroyed and damaged in the impoverished country recovering from another devastating earthquake in 2010.

Tremors shook buildings late yesterday in the southern city of Les Cayes. However, there were no immediate reports of further deaths or damage in the region.

Across the seaside city, families were sleeping on mattresses in the streets.

The poorest country in the Americas, Haiti is still recovering from a 2010 quake that killed more than 200,000 people.

Haiti has also been beleaguered by gang violence, Covid-19, and political chaos, which spiked last month after the assassination of president Jovenel Moise.

The government has declared a month-long state of emergency in the four provinces affected by the quake.

A hungry crowd gathered outside an airport in southern Haiti yesterday. Victims voiced anger that government aid was slow to arrive five days after the disaster, leaving many without food and water.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who flew to visit Les Cayes, had praised the dignity shown by survivors and promised a rapid escalation of aid.

But following another night of rains, residents in Les Cayes, including those camped in a mushrooming tent city in the city centre, complained of scant help on the ground.

Concern was also growing for more remote places outside Les Cayes, such as the badly-hit town of Jeremie to the northwest, where access roads were damaged, video shared on social media showed.

A Reuters witness said that dozens of people went to Les Cayes airport demanding food after a helicopter arrived carrying supplies. Police intervened to allow a truck carrying aid to leave.

Pierre Cenel, a local judge in Les Cayes, a city of 100,000 inhabitants, rebuked the government in Port-au-Prince, echoing bubbling frustration in the hardest-hit regions.

"As a judge, I must not have a political opinion. But as a man, as a man concerned about the situation of my country, nothing is working. They didn't do anything to prepare for this disaster," Mr Cenel said.

At a news conference, Jerry Chandler, the president of Haiti's civil protection agency, acknowledged that aid had yet to reach many places but that officials were working hard to get it there.

"The frustration and despair of the population are understood, but ... the population is asked not to block the convoys so that civil protection can do its job," he said.

Mr Chandler said at least 600,000 people in need of humanitarian aid and 135,000 families displaced, intending to get aid to everyone in need within a week.

Rumi Samuel

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