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Over 200,000 dead in Haiti quake

Haiti’s Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive says the death toll from the January 12 disastrous magnitude seven quake has exceeded 200,000.

“There are more than 200,000 people who have been clearly identified as people who are dead,” he said, adding that another 300,000 are “in hospitals, in health centers and also in ambulatory care centers.”

Bellerive added that his Caribbean nation has been ravaged by “a disaster on a planetary scale.”

Citing the latest statistics on Wednesday, the premier also said that over one million people have been made homeless as a result of the devastating tremors that hit the shallow crust of the earth around the capital Port-au-Prince.

“More than 250,000 houses have been destroyed,” on top of 30,000 businesses, he went on to say.

Despite a massive aid operation, a lack of coordination and the extent of the damage have hampered food and water distribution, which has led to mounting tensions among Haitians.

Recently, there have been street protests amid public anger and frustration over the handling of the situation.

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