Haiti’s hospitals were swamped this morning by thousands of injured residents after a devastating earthquake, which has killed at least 1,297 people.
Authorities are now racing to bring doctors to the worst-hit areas before a major storm hits. The 7.2 magnitude quake on Saturday destroyed thousands of homes and buildings in a Caribbean nation which is still clawing its way back from another major earthquake 11 years ago and is reeling from the assassination of its president last month .
Southwestern Haiti bore the brunt of the blow, especially in the region around the town of Les Cayes. Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said the toll from the disaster had climbed to 1,297 and the hospitals that were still functioning were struggling to cope, as some 5,700 people were injured.
The challenge facing Haiti has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, a severe economic downturn aggravated by fierce gang violence, and a political crisis that has engulfed the troubled nation after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise on 7 July. From the Vatican, Pope Francis urged the international community to show support swiftly. “May solidarity from everyone lighten the consequences of the tragedy,” he told pilgrims and tourists at his Sunday blessing in St. Peter’s Square.
