Haiti earthquake: death toll rises to 304 in the early hours | There are hundreds of injured and missing

the number of deaths left by the magnitude 7.2 earthquake recorded this Saturday in Haiti has passed to 304, according to a new assessment of the Haitian authorities. The death toll is increasing every hour. Civil protection authorities have confirmed 77 more deaths after the last report in which the number of victims rose to 227. The recent report also adds that there are 1,800 injured and hospitals across the country are overwhelmed.

“We have recorded 160 deaths in the south, 42 in Nippes, 100 in Grand’Anse and two in the north-west,” Jerry Chandler, director of civil protection, told a press conference.

“The first interventions, carried out by both professional rescuers and members of the population, allowed to extract a lot of people from the rubble“Civil Protection lamented on his Twitter account, where he explained that “Hospitals continue to receive injuries.” At least three health centers in the towns of Pestel, Corailles and Roseaux were completely saturated with patients, according to Chandler.

Christella Saint Hilaire, who lives near the epicenter, said that “many houses are destroyed” and “aftershocks keep happening”. For his part, Job Joseph, a resident of the city of Jeremiah, in the far west of Haiti, assured that “The houses and the walls around them have collapsed. The roof of the cathedral collapsed “.

The earthquake on Saturday, which was also felt in the Dominican Republic, was recorded at 8:29 a.m. local time, about 12 kilometers from the city of Saint-Louis of the South, with an epicenter 10 kilometers deep. This was followed by a 5.2 magnitude aftershock 17 kilometers from the city of Chantal, also with the epicenter 10 kilometers deep.

The shocking earthquake it was also felt in much of the Caribbean, especially in Santiago de Cuba (about 300 km from Saint-Louis-du-Sud), where many residents have left their homes, according to Radio Rebelde. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) initially issued a tsunami warning, anticipating possible waves of up to three meters along the coast. from Haiti, but soon after he lifted it up.

Emergency state

Due to the gravity of what happened, the local government decided to declare a state of emergency for one month, as announced by the Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, who took office. July 20, 13 days after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise. . . . Henry asked “to show solidarity” and not to panic, the Prime Minister also traveled to the affected areas.

Residents shared images on social media showing efforts to pull people out of the rubble. The damage in the town of Les Cayes appears to be extensive, including the collapse of a multistory hotel. Images of the ruins of concrete buildings have also circulated, including a church in which a ceremony apparently took place on Saturday in the town of the English, in the southwest.