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Haiti Earthquake Toll Passes 2,200


Parishioners attend a mass on the grounds next to earthquake-damaged cathedral in Les Cayes, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, eight days after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the area.
Parishioners attend a mass on the grounds next to earthquake-damaged cathedral in Les Cayes, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021, eight days after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the area.

Haitian officials reported Sunday that the death toll from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes rose to 2,207.

According to Haiti’s Civil Protection service, more than 50,000 homes have been destroyed and 344 people remain missing.

More than 12,000 people were injured in last Saturday’s earthquake.

The United Nations estimates that more than 1 million people were affected by the latest crisis to hit the Caribbean island country. Tens of thousands of houses have been reduced to rubble, rendering their inhabitants homeless.

The quake was centered near the town of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, about 125 kilometers west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Aid has trickled into the area partly because of the roads and bridges damaged by the quake and the subsequent drenching by a tropical storm. But efforts to bring water, food and medical supplies have also been stymied by gangs that have attacked convoys and hijacked trucks.

The country has been reeling since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home July 7. His wife, Martine Moise, was injured in the attack.

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