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Tens of thousands feared dead after Haiti earthquake
devastation in haiti
What caused the quakeView a graphic showing how the 7.0 magnitude earthquake happened. Haiti Earthquake Map
Earthquake Strikes HaitiSee reported locations of the epicenter and aftershocks since the Jan. 12 earthquake. TOOLBOX
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In an interview with the Miami Herald, Haitian President René Préval described scenes from the capital that he characterized as "unimaginable."
The Haitian parliament building crumbled, and the graceful, snow-white National Palace that sat on a rare patch of emerald lawn in the heart of the capital lies in ruins. A prison in Port-au-Prince broke apart, allowing some inmates to escape. The city's Roman Catholic archbishop is among the dead.
"The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed," Préval said. "There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them."
Later, on CNN, Préval said he been informed that the death toll could be 30,000 to 50,000. He lamented that injured people have been lying in the streets since the quake struck, saying, "We don't have the capacity to bring them to the hospital."
"There are risks that houses continue to collapse," he said. "There are risks of an epidemic."
Health concerns
Public health officials in Washington echoed those concerns. The Pan American Health Organization dispatched a team of experts from Panama to assist in the management of mass casualties, the delivery of emergency medical care and the disposal of bodies.
"We fear the impact of this earthquake will be particularly devastating due to the vulnerability of Haiti's people," said Jon K. Andrus, the organization's deputy director.
The United States, France, China and the Dominican Republic are sending search-and-rescue teams to Haiti, a country of 9 million people with a primitive network of two-lane roads, only the most major of which are paved. Andrus said Brazil has sent three jets carrying 21 tons of equipment, and many countries have pledged money. Spain has sent planes with surgical teams.
A U.S. military official said tentative plans are underway for the hospital ship USNS Comfort -- which aided Haiti after hurricanes struck Port-au-Prince two years ago -- to dock off the coast and assist the sick and wounded.
"An unknown number, tens if not hundreds of thousands, have suffered varying degrees of destruction to their homes," Vincenzo Pugliese, deputy spokesman for the U.N. mission in Haiti, said in a statement. He said "major transport routes have been severely disrupted" by debris, smashed vehicles and cracks in the Earth.
Bodies placed in piles
The quake's epicenter was about 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince, home to as much as a third of the country's population. News reports from the capital said survivors were piling bodies outside as the sun rose. Communications networks were crippled across the island, making it difficult to determine the extent of the damage to other towns.
Much of the resort city of Jacmel -- whose architecture was a major influence on New Orleans -- appears to have been destroyed as well, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency. A port city of about 40,000, Jacmel is Haiti's most popular tourist destination.
