Haiti earthquake death toll jumps to 1,297 as rescuers search rubble for survivors
Hospitals in Haiti have become overwhelmed as they treat thousands of people injured in a earthquake that has left 1,297 dead.
Some 13,694 houses have been destroyed, Haiti’s civil protection agency said, suggesting the number of dead could rise further.
Saturday’s 7.2 magnitude quake has left at least 5,700 people injured in the Caribbean nation, with thousands more displaced from their destroyed or damaged homes.
Authorities have been racing to bring doctors to the worst-hit areas before a major storm hits.
Rescue workers have been searching frantically to find survivors, and footage on social media shows civilians pulling distraught people from the debris of walls and roofs that had crumbled around them.
The epicentre of the quake was around 78 miles west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the US Geological Survey said, and aftershocks continued to jolt the area on Sunday.
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Hundreds killed in Haiti earthquake
Schools, hospitals, hotels and churches have all been badly damaged and destroyed, while the walls of a prison were smashed open by the violent shudders.
The civil protection agency has said the hospitals that were still functioning are struggling to cope with the thousands of people who are injured.
Jerry Chandler, the head of Haiti’s civil protection agency, said: “We do have a serious issue.
“There are very important facilities that are dysfunctional as we speak and those that are functional are receiving an overflow of patients.”
Reports of overwhelmed hospitals come as the nation struggles to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. The 11-million strong country received its first batch of US-donated COVID-19 vaccines last month.
In the northwestern city of Jeremie doctors treated injured patients on hospital stretchers underneath trees and on mattresses by the side of the road, as healthcare centres have run out of space.
People look for survivors in a house destroyed by the earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti
In Les Cayes, a seafront town of some 90,000 people, rescuers in red hard hats and blue overalls pulled bodies from
the tangled wreckage of one building, as a yellow mechanical excavator nearby helped to shift the rubble.
Aftershocks could be felt throughout the day and night, with the island experiencing six stronger than magnitude 5 and more above 4 by early Sunday.
“We need to show a lot of solidarity with the emergency,” Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry said.
He said aid was being rushed to areas where towns were destroyed and hospitals overwhelmed with patients.
The prime minister declared a one-month state of emergency for the whole country.
“The most important thing is to recover as many survivors as possible under the rubble,” said Mr Henry.
“We have learned that the local hospitals, in particular that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people.”
People look for survivors in a house destroyed by the earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti
Rescue efforts will be frustrated by the arrival of Tropical Storm Grace, which is set to lash the island nation with heavy rainfall on Monday.
The US National Hurricane Center also warned of the possibility of flash flooding.
Nearby countries, including the Dominican Republic and Mexico, rushed to send desperately needed food and medicines by air and across Haiti’s land border.
The United States dispatched vital supplies and deployed a 65-person urban search-and-rescue team with specialized
equipment, said Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The quake demolished hundreds of homes and buildings
Haiti is still rebuilding from a previous major quake 11 years ago and was recovering from the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July.
US President Joe Biden has authorised an immediate response and named USAID administrator Samantha Power to oversee the US relief effort.
Ms Power said the US has sent vital supplies and deployed a 65-person urban search-and-rescue team with specialised equipment.
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Woman and child pulled from Haiti quake rubble
Mr Biden said USAID would help to assess damage and assist in rebuilding and called the US a “close and enduring friend to the people of Haiti.”
Argentina and Chile have also said they will send help.
Some Haitians who remember the aftermath of the earthquake that struck in 2010 spent Saturday night sleeping in the streets.
That tremor struck closer to the capital, Port-au-Prince, and killed up to 300,000 people.
Pakistan has launched attacks on “multiple targets” across India, according to the media wing of Pakistan’s military.
Pakistan said in a statement that retaliatory attacks are underway in response to what it called “continuous provocation” by India, which fired missiles at three air bases inside Pakistan.
“Multiple targets in this operation are being engaged all across India,” the statement from Pakistan Armed Forces (PAF) said.
Pakistan’s military said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to strike more than 25 military sites, including airbases and weapons depots in the Indian states of Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan, as well as locations in India-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan’s military posted footage on X showing missiles being fired from what appeared to be a mobile launcher.
Pic: MilitaryPakISPR
The AP news agency also said loud explosions have been heard in India-administered Kashmir, in the disputed region’s two big cities of Srinagar and Jammu, and the garrison town of Udhampur.
Meanwhile, an Indian military source told Reuters that India has launched air operations in Pakistan, although no further details were given.
The operations mark the latest escalation in a conflict between the two nuclear-armed rivals, triggered by a deadly attack last month in India-administered Kashmir.
Most of the 26 civilians killed were Hindu Indian tourists. India blames Pakistan for backing the assault, an accusation Islamabad rejects.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a meeting of the National Command Authority, the body which takes security decisions, including those related to the country’s nuclear arsenal.
State-run Pakistan television said three air bases were struck by India on Friday, although Pakistan insisted most of the missiles had been intercepted.
Despite the military offensive, PAF also posted a message on X in what appeared to represent an opportunity to de-escalate the situation.
“Now that a response has been given we hope the neighbour [India] will move to dialogue and diplomacy like Civilized Nations,” it said.
In recent days, both countries have launched a series of missile and drone strikes, although the scale and impact have been consistently questioned by each other.
On Wednesday, India conducted airstrikes on several sites in Pakistani territory. Pakistan said it shot down five Indian fighter jets.
On Thursday, India claimed to have repelled drone and missile attacks at military targets in more than a dozen cities and towns, including Jammu in India-administered Kashmir. Meanwhile, India claimed it struck Pakistan’s air defence systems and radars close to the city of Lahore.
A damaged house in Jammu, in Indian-administered Kashmir, after a Pakistani drone attack. Pic: AP
The Indian army said on Friday that Pakistan fired about 300 to 400 drones, targeting military installations along the western borders – a claim strongly denied by Pakistan.
The G7 group of advanced economies, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and Britain, urged maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan.
“We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome,” a statement issued on Friday said.
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World
European leaders to meet in Ukraine for ‘coalition of the willing’ talks – and issue call to Russia
Sir Keir Starmer will join other European leaders in Kyiv on Saturday for talks on the “coalition of the willing”.
The prime minister is attending the event alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
It will be the first time the leaders of the four countries will travel to Ukraine at the same time – on board a train to Kyiv – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Follow latest updates on the Ukraine war
Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz travelling in the saloon car of a special train to Kiev. Pic: Reuters
Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for the coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement voicing support for Ukraine and calling on Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in March. Pic: AP
“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.
“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”
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Putin’s Victory Day parade explained
The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.
But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.
“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.
“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”
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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.
They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.
This force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, according to Number 10.
World
Ten explosions near international airport in India-administered part of Kashmir, officials say
Ten explosions have been heard near Srinagar International Airport in India-administered parts of Kashmir, officials have told Reuters news agency.
The blasts followed blackouts caused by multiple projectiles, which were seen in the sky above the city of Jammu earlier on Friday.
Explosions were also heard in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, in the neighbouring Punjab state, according to Reuters.
An Indian military official told the agency that “drones have been sighted” and “they are being engaged”.
It comes as tensions between India and Pakistan across the line of control around the region of Kashmir have boiled over this week, leading to fears of a wider conflict.
On Wednesday morning, India carried out missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered parts of the disputed region.
The retaliation came weeks after 26 people, mainly Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen in an India-administered part of Kashmir last month.
The government in India said it hit nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites, while Pakistan said it was not involved in the April attack and the sites were not militant bases.
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Explained: India-Pakistan conflict
Around 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides – which have not been independently verified.
India also suspended its top cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, as a result of rising tensions, while the Pakistan Super League moved the remainder of its season to the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a conference on Friday that the US is in constant contact with both India and Pakistan.
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