Haiti quake death toll may hit 200,000

Haitian Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime say the death toll from a devastating earthquake that hit the nation could reach 200,000.

“We have already collected around 50,000 dead bodies we anticipate there will be between 100,000 and 200,000 dead in total, although we will never know the exact number,” he told Reuters on Friday.

Earlier, Red Cross officials had estimated that up to 50,000 people may have died in Tuesday’s magnitude-7.0 quake.

With thousands of bodies still piled up on the streets of Port au Prince, rotting in the tropical sun, there was also a race against time to reach possible survivors still trapped in the ruins and treat those who were badly injured.

After three days of Haitians being left to fend mostly for themselves in one of the world’s poorest countries, foreign relief teams were increasingly seen on the streets, some backed by vital heavy-lifting equipment.