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Authorities said rescuers are continuing to search for possible survivors under the rubble.
On Sunday, the death toll from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Haiti rose sharply, with at least 724 people dead and at least 2,800 injured.
The latest figures from the Haitian Civil Defence Office are based on the previous number of 304 deaths. The director of the office, Jerry Chandler, said rescuers are continuing to search for possible survivors under the rubble.
People in this Caribbean island nation rushed to the streets to seek safety and help rescue people trapped in the rubble of collapsed houses, hotels and other buildings.
Saturday’s earthquake struck the southwestern part of the poorest country in the hemisphere, almost razed some towns to the ground, triggered landslides, and hindered rescue efforts in the two worst-hit communities. The disaster has exacerbated the plight of Haitians, who are already responding to the coronavirus pandemic, presidential assassinations and waves of gang violence.
According to the US Geological Survey, the epicenter of the earthquake was about 125 kilometers west of the capital Port-au-Prince. By early next week, widespread damage may worsen, and Tropical Storm Grace is expected to arrive in Haiti later on Monday or early Tuesday, bringing heavy rains.
Aftershocks were felt throughout the day and night, when many people were now homeless or afraid of the possibility of their broken houses collapsing, and if their nerves allowed them, they would stay on the street to sleep.
In the severely damaged seaside town of Les Keys, some families packed up some of their belongings and spent the night in the open-air football field. On Sunday morning, people lined up in the local market to buy very few things: bananas, avocados and water.
Some people in the town praised God for surviving the earthquake. Many people went to the city’s cathedral. Even if the priest’s residence was destroyed, the exterior of the church looked intact.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he is providing emergency assistance to areas where towns have been destroyed and hospitals are overcrowded. A former senator rented a private jet to transport the injured from Les Cayes to Port-au-Prince for medical assistance.
Henry declared the country into a one-month state of emergency and said that he would not seek international help until he knew the extent of the damage.
“The most important thing is to find as many survivors as possible under the rubble,” Henry said. “We learned that the local hospitals, especially the hospital in Les Cayes, are crowded with injured and broken people.”
Rescuers and bystanders were able to rescue many people from the rubble.
Chandler said that part of the investigation of structural damage found that at least 860 houses were destroyed and more than 700 houses were damaged. Hospitals, schools, offices and churches were also affected.
On the small island of Ile-a-Vache, about 10.5 kilometers from Les Cayes, the earthquake destroyed a seaside resort popular with Haitian officials, business leaders, diplomats and humanitarian workers. Fernand Sajous, owner of Abaka Bay Resort, said on the phone that 9 of the hotel’s 30 rooms collapsed, but he said the rooms were empty and no one was injured.
“They just disappeared,” Sarrus said.
The people of Les Cayes tried to pull the guests out of the ruins of the collapsed hotel, but at sunset, they could only find the body of a 7-year-old girl who was behind the facility.
“I have eight children and I have been looking for the last one,” Jean-Claude Daniel said in tears. “I will never see her alive again. The earthquake ruined my life. It took a child away from me.”
As reports about hospitals are overwhelmed, Haiti is battling a pandemic and lacks resources to deal with it. This country with a population of 11 million only received its first coronavirus vaccine donated by the United States through a United Nations program for low-income countries last month.
An earthquake occurred just over a month after President Jovenel Moise was shot at his home, throwing the country into political chaos. His widow, Martina Moys, was seriously injured in the attack. She tweeted to call on Haitians to unite: “Let us work together and unite.”
US President Joe Biden authorized an immediate response and appointed Samantha Bauer, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, to oversee US efforts to help Haiti. The United States Agency for International Development will help assess the damage and assist in reconstruction. Biden said that he called the United States “a close and lasting friend of the Haitian people.”
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