Following the major earthquake of magnitude 7.2 on the Richter scale which hit hard this Saturday August 14, 2021 at 8:29 a.m. local time the southern department https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34479-haiti-flash-magnitude-72-earthquake-in-the-nippes-updated-10am.html followed by 11 replicas of magnitude between 4.1 and 5.2 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34486-haiti-flash-7-new-aftershocks-in-the-southern-peninsula.html, the toll of material damage to homes, schools, churches, destroyed or damaged infrastructure under evaluation promises to be very significant.

The very last provisional human toll, communicated by the Directorate of Civil Protection reports 227 dead, including 158 in the South, hundreds of injured and missing. The first interventions, carried out by both professional rescuers and members of the population, made it possible to extract many people from the rubble. Hospitals continue to receive wounded.

The number of injured is considerable and the hospitals are saturated, lacking medicines and resources to cope with the influx of victims...

The United States and Canada offered assistance after the deadly earthquake in Haiti.

US President Joe Biden "authorized an immediate US response and tasked the director of the US International Aid Agency (USAID), Samantha Powers, to coordinate this effort..."

Dominican President Luis Abinader also extended his hand, and ordered his Minister of Foreign Affairs to contact Prime Minister Ariel Henry, "to facilitate any assistance to the extent of our possibilities."

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has declared a state of emergency for one month and announced that he will visit the scene with the relevant authorities in the next few hours, in order to "assess the overall situation".

In Les Cayes, the multistory hotel "Le Manguier" completely collapsed trapping the occupants under the concrete slabs. The lifeless body of former Haitian senator Gabriel Fortuné, owner of the hotel, has been removed from the rubble. His death was confirmed by the Prime Minister.

To be continued...

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34486-haiti-flash-7-new-aftershocks-in-the-southern-peninsula.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34480-haiti-flash-second-earthquake-in-haiti-magnitude-52.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34479-haiti-flash-magnitude-72-earthquake-in-the-nippes.html

SL/ HaitiLibre