Up to 200,000 feared dead in Haiti

Up to 200,000 people are feared dead as a result of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that has destroyed much of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, officials in the Caribbean country say.

Lorries piled with corpses have been trying to collect the bodies that have been visible on the streets across Port-au-Prince for burial in mass graves outside the city.

“We have already collected around 50,000 dead bodies,” Paul Antoine Bien-Aime, the country’s interior minister, told the Reuters news agency on Friday.

“We anticipate there will be between 100,00 and 200,000 dead in total, although we will never know the exact number.”

If the casualty figures are accurate, Tuesday’s quake would be one of the 10 deadliest earthquakes ever recorded.

About 40,000 have already been buried, but thousands more are believed to be under the rubble of the buildings that were toppled in the quake.

Alex Larsen, the Haitian health minister, said that the devastation was such that three-quarters of Port-au-Prince would have to be rebuilt.

The estimated 300,000 people made homeless by the quake began a fourth night sleeping on the streets on Friday, along with many others who fear returning to their homes in case of further collapses.

Planes and ships have arrived with rescue teams, search dogs, tents, water purification units, food, doctors and telecom teams, but face problems unloading the supplies and getting them into the city.