PORT PRINCE: At least 227 people were killed and hundreds were injured and missing after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Saturday.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was rushing aid to areas where towns were destroyed and hospitals overwhelmed with incoming patients.

The epicenter of the quake was about 125 kilometres west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the US Geological Survey said, and widespread damage was reported.

Haiti’s civil protection agency said that the death toll stood at 227 and that search teams would be sent to the area. Rescue workers and bystanders were able to pull many people to safety from the rubble, the agency said Saturday afternoon on Twitter. It said injured people were still being brought to hospitals.

PM Henry declared a one-month state of emergency for the whole country and said he would not ask for international help until the extent of the damages was known. He said some towns were almost completely razed and the government had people in the coastal town of Les Cayes to help plan and coordinate the response.

“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.” He said the International Red Cross and hospitals in unaffected areas were helping to care for the injured, and appealed to Haitians for unity.

“The needs are enormous. We must take care of the injured and fractured, but also provide food, aid, temporary shelter and psychological support,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2021