Haiti quake death toll rises to 1,419, injured now at 6,000

By MARK STEVENSON and EVENS SANON

LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) — A infirmary successful southwestern Haiti, wherever a almighty earthquake flattened homes, shops and different buildings implicit the weekend, was truthful overwhelmed with patients that galore had to prevarication successful patios, corridors, verandas and hallways. Then the attack of a tempest expected to drench the quake portion Monday nighttime forced officials to relocate them arsenic champion they could fixed the hospital’s mediocre conditions.

Even those patients were somewhat fortunate. Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency connected Monday raised the decease toll from Saturday’s earthquake to 1,419 and the fig of injured to 6,000, galore of whom person had to hold nether the burning heat, adjacent connected an airdrome tarmac, for help.

“We had planned to enactment up tents (in infirmary patios), but we were told that could not beryllium safe,” said Gede Peterson, manager of Les Cayes General Hospital.

It is not the archetypal clip that unit has been forced to improvise. The refrigeration successful the hospital’s morgue has not worked for 3 months, but aft the earthquake struck Saturday, unit had to store arsenic galore arsenic 20 bodies successful the tiny space. Relatives rapidly came to instrumentality astir to backstage embalming services oregon contiguous burial. By Monday lone 3 bodies were successful the morgue.

The quake, centered astir 125 kilometers (80 miles) westbound of the superior of Port-au-Prince, astir razed immoderate towns and triggered landslides that hampered rescue efforts successful a state that is the poorest successful the Western Hemisphere. Haiti already was struggling with the coronavirus pandemic, pack violence, worsening poorness and the governmental uncertainty pursuing the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse erstwhile the earthquake sent residents rushing to the streets.

The devastation could worsen with Monday night’s accomplishment of Tropical Depression Grace with its dense rainfall and beardown winds and the menace of mudslides and flash flooding. The Civil Protection Agency said rainfall could scope 15 inches (38 centimeters) successful immoderate areas earlier the tempest moved distant connected Tuesday. Grace besides drenched Port-au-Prince, the capital.

“We are moving present to guarantee that the resources we person are going to get to the places that are hardest hit,” said bureau caput Jerry Chandler, referring to the towns of Les Cayes and Jeremie and the section of Nippes, which are successful the country’s southwestern portion.

Injured earthquake victims continued to watercourse into Les Cayes’ overwhelmed wide hospital, 3 days aft the earthquake struck. Patients waited to beryllium treated connected step steps, successful corridors and the hospital’s unfastened veranda.

“After 2 days, they are astir ever mostly infected,” said Dr. Paurus Michelete, who had treated 250 patients and was 1 of lone 3 doctors connected telephone erstwhile the quake hit.

Meanwhile, rescuers and scrap metallic scavengers dug into the floors of a collapsed edifice Monday successful this coastal town, wherever 15 bodies had already been extracted. Jean Moise Fortunè, whose brother, the edifice proprietor and a salient politician, was killed successful the quake, believed determination were much radical trapped successful the rubble.

But based connected the size of voids that workers cautiously peered into, possibly a ft (0.3 meters) successful depth, uncovering survivors appeared unlikely.

As work, substance and wealth ran out, hopeless Les Cayes residents searched collapsed houses for scrap metallic to sell. Others waited for wealth wired from abroad, a mainstay of Haiti’s system adjacent earlier the quake.

Anthony Emile waited six hours successful a enactment with dozens of others trying to get wealth his member had wired from Chile, wherever helium has worked since Haiti’s past quake.

“We person been waiting since greeting for it, but determination are excessively galore people,” said Emile, a banana husbandman who said relatives successful the countryside beryllium connected him giving them wealth to survive.

Efforts to dainty the injured were hard astatine the wide hospital, wherever Michelete said symptom killers, analgesics and alloy pins to mend fractures were moving retired amid the crush of patients.

“We are saturated, and radical support coming,” helium said.

Josil Eliophane, 84, crouched connected the steps of the hospital, clutching an X-ray showing his shattered limb bony and pleading for symptom medication.

Michelete said helium would springiness 1 of his fewer remaining shots to Eliophane, who ran retired of his location arsenic the quake hit, lone to person a partition autumn connected him.

Nearby, connected the hospital’s open-air veranda, patients were connected beds and mattresses, hooked up to IV bags of saline fluid. Others laic successful the plot nether furniture sheets erected to shield them from the brutal sun. None of the patients oregon relatives caring for them wore look masks amid a coronavirus surge.

Officials said the magnitude 7.2 earthquake near much than 7,000 homes were destroyed and astir 5,000 damaged from the quake, leaving immoderate 30,000 families homeless. Hospitals, schools, offices and churches besides were destroyed oregon severely damaged.

Underlining the dire conditions, section officials had to negociate with gangs successful the seaside territory of Martissant to let 2 humanitarian convoys a time to walk done the area, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported. The bureau called Haiti’s confederate peninsula a “hot spot for gang-related violence,” wherever humanitarian workers person been repeatedly attacked.

The bureau said the country has been “virtually unreachable” implicit the past 2 months due to the fact that of roadworthy blocks and information concerns. Agency spokeswoman Anna Jefferys said the archetypal convoy passed done Sunday with authorities and U.N. personnel. and the U.N. World Food Program plans to nonstop successful nutrient supplies via trucks Tuesday.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry declared a one-month authorities of exigency for the full state and said the archetypal authorities assistance convoys had started moving assistance to areas wherever towns were destroyed and hospitals were overwhelmed.

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said humanitarian needs were acute, with galore Haitians urgently needing wellness care, cleanable h2o and shelter. Children separated from their parents besides needed protection, she said.

“Little much than a decennary on, Haiti is reeling erstwhile again,” Fore said, referring to the 2010 earthquake that ravaged Haiti’s capital, sidesplitting tens of thousands. “And this catastrophe coincides with governmental instability, rising pack violence, alarmingly precocious rates of malnutrition among children, and the COVID-19 pandemic — for which Haiti has received conscionable 500,000 vaccine doses, contempt requiring acold more.”

The state of 11 cardinal radical received its archetypal batch of U.S.-donated coronavirus vaccines lone past period via a United Nations programme for low-income countries.

Medical workers from crossed the portion were scrambling to assistance arsenic hospitals successful Les Cayes started moving retired of abstraction to execute surgeries.

“Basically, they request everything,” said Dr. Inobert Pierre, a pediatrician with the nonprofit Health Equity International, which oversees St. Boniface Hospital, astir 2 hours from Les Cayes.

Pierre’s aesculapian squad was taking immoderate patients to St. Boniface to acquisition surgery, but with conscionable 2 ambulances, they could transport lone 4 astatine a time.

Working with USAID, the U.S. Coast Guard said a chopper was transporting aesculapian unit from the Haitian superior to the quake portion and evacuating injured backmost to Port-au-Prince. Lt. Commander Jason Nieman, a spokesman, said different craft and ships were being sent.

At the Les Cayes hospital, Emma Cadet, 41, a carpenter’s wife, hovered implicit her 18-year-old son, Charles Owen, arsenic helium awaited an cognition connected his breached arm. He was among the fortunate patients to person received symptom medication.

Worse disconnected was Nerison Vendredi, 19, lying quiescent but alert. No casts oregon splint would assistance her due to the fact that she seemingly had suffered interior injuries and could not move.

There were immoderate stories of occurrence survivals, but they were becoming less arsenic the days passed.

Jacquelion Luxama was starring his goats to a watering spread Saturday erstwhile a hillside collapsed connected him, trapping him amid boulders and a rockslide that stripped tegument from his hip.

“I started yelling, and luckily immoderate different famers heard me, and they came and pulled maine out, ” said Luxama, lying connected a mattress astatine the Les Cayes hospital.

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Associated Press writers Collin Binkley successful Boston, Trenton Daniel successful New York and Regina Garcia Cano successful Mexico City contributed to this report.