Haiti earthquake death toll rises to 2,248, 329 missing: Civil Protection Agency

The official death toll from the Haiti earthquake has jumped to 2,248, and as many as 329 are still unaccounted for, the Civil Protection Agency said on Monday, Sep. 6 as it continued the rescue operation and search for those that have been missing. "The August 14 earthquake killed 2,248 people, injured 12,763, and 329 are still missing in the three most affected departments," the statement from the agency read. Haiti was struck with a deadly 7.2 magnitude earthquake last month on Aug. 14, the  Caribbean nation was immediately devastated by a tropical storm with frequent jolts of at least 900 quakes since, with at least 400 with a magnitude over 3.

Nearly 53,000 houses were destroyed, as they crumbled under the impact of the powerful earthquake, 25,000 people were displaced, and at least 12,763 were injured, according to an official bulletin published Monday by Civil Protection. Reports of two more deaths emerged but the authorities did not confirm whether the fatalities were caused due to the earthquake. International Organization for Migration (IOM) listed at least 60 informal points for meeting as the nation continues to reel under the devastating impact of the calamity. 

School reopening postpones 

Rescue teams from Brazil, Colombia, Chile, the United States, France, Mexico, and the United Kingdom have been conducting frantic search operations for the survivors. Earthquake wreaked havoc throughout the southern peninsula causing damage to roads, nearly four ports, and 62 medical centres. Haitian government decided to postpone the start of the school year for fifteen days due to start on October 4 by at least 15 days as over 566 schools collapsed into ruins. The region witnessed 15 inches (38 centimetres) of rain before the storm passed, according to local news outlets.

[A man walks on the rubble of a collapsed hotel the morning after Tropical Storm Grace swept over Port Salut, Haiti, three days after a 7.2 magnitude quake. AP Photo/Matias Delacroix]

Volunteer firefighters from the nearby city of Cap-Haitien had to initially leave the bodies out in the rain due to sluggish police response at the disaster scene. Associated Press reported that a victim was sending text messages for help from inside the rubble as a crowd of angry, shouting people gathered in front of the collapsed building waiting for the government to speed up the rescue mission. “The photographers come through, the press, but we have no tarps for our roofs,” one man, who refused to give his name told AP. 

Haiti's earthquakes' new death toll comes as the relief operations expanded with the US-based aid agency Samaritan’s Purse opening a field hospital for the victims. Head of Haiti’s office of civil protection, Jerry Chandler, acknowledged the dire situation as impoverished civilians in the hard-hit city of Les Cayes in the Southwestern peninsula waited for food packages. The United States pledged another $32 million in aid to the victims. US Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power told a press briefing that USAID was coordinating closely with the government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry for purchasing rebuilding supplies and food for the displaced families whose homes were battered in the earthquake. 

[Earthquake-displaced people sit inside a church the morning after Tropical Storm Grace swept over Les Cayes, Haiti three days after a 7.2 magnitude quake. AP Photo/Matias Delacroix]

[A soldier walks over earthquake rubble the morning after Tropical Storm Grace swept over Les Cayes, Haiti. AP Photo]

[Residents wade through a flooded road the morning after Tropical Storm Grace swept over Trou Mahot, Haiti. AP Photo/Matias Delacroix]