Thousands of people are feared dead in Haiti after a massive 7.0 earthquake devastated one of the world’s poorest countries yesterday. Bodies lay strewn in the street of the capital, Port-au-Prince, as the full horror of the disaster began to emerge in the early hours today. Eyewitnesses said gravely ill Haitians were crying out from the rubble, pleading for doctors as night fell. With the country in chaos and facing still more damage from a series of aftershocks, their cries went mostly unheard. The destruction is said to be staggering, even in an impoverished nation accustomed to tragedy and disaster. The National Palace is in ruins, a major hospital crumbled and tens of thousands of people are left homeless. The headquarters of the United Nations peacekeeping mission also collapsed and a large number of staff in the five-storey building are believed to have been killed. Up to 250 people normally work at the UN headquarters and none had been rescued by late last night. It was unclear how many people were in their offices when the earthquake hit. With communications disrupted, it may be days before the full death toll is known. But Karel Zelenka, a Catholic Relief Services representative in Port-au-Prince, told American colleagues that ‘there must be thousands of people dead. (Daily Mail)
Thousands of people are feared dead in 