Haiti begs for help, declares state of emergency as 28 killed in earthquake

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC –
Prime Minister Dr Ariel Henry has appealed for help as the death toll mounted to 28 following a powerful 7.2 earthquake in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country on Saturday morning.

Henry has also declared a state of emergency that will last for one month.

“I appeal to the spirit of solidarity and commitment of all Haitians, in order to come together to face this dramatic situation that we are currently experiencing, the prime minister said.

He extended sympathies to the relatives of the victims of the quake.

Hospitals have become overwhelmed as large numbers of persons arrive for treatment and the Immaculate Conception Hospital in Les Cayes has appealed for help to obtain drugs as well as additional resources to deal with the situation.

“We are receiving a lot of displaced people. We are overwhelmed. We are calling for help. We need doctors, nurses, medicine,” a spokesman said.

The Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC) so far as aftershocks, some registering as high as 5.2, have continued to shake the country.

In January 2010, Haiti experienced an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 that killed 220,000 people, destroyed 183,383 homes and left 1. 5 million people homeless.

Pictures and video posted on social media showed collapsed structures and panicked residents in their pajamas screaming the names of loved ones.

Gabriel Fortuné, a powerful local politician and former mayor of Les Cayes, was among those killed when the hotel he owned collapsed during the quake, according to a local media.

In the city of Bomon, at least eight people have been confirmed dead and  in Jérémie, many wounded people have gone to the Saint-Antoine de Jérémie hospital in need of reinforcement and medicine.

The magnitude 7.2 quake hit at 7.29 am (Jamaica time).

Officials said that it occurred on the same fault line as the 2010 quake.

Seismologists said it had a depth of seven miles and was felt as far away as 200 miles in Jamaica.

Disaster experts from the US Agency for International Development are on the ground in Haiti assessing damage and needs, USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance tweeted.

The quake came at a time as Haiti is preparing for the passage of a weather system that the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) could begin affecting the country as well as the Dominican Republic by Monday.

The NHC said that Tropical Storm Grace is expected to strengthen “during the next day or so” and could dump up to eight inches of rain that “could lead to flash, urban, and small stream flooding as well as potential mudslides.

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