Up to 90 per cent of the buildings in Leogane have been damaged by this week's devastating earthquake. -- PHOTO: AFP
GENEVA - UP TO 90 per cent of the buildings in Leogane, a town to the west of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, have been damaged by this week's devastating earthquake, the United Nations said Saturday.
A UN assessment team found that Leogane, with a population of 134,000, 'is the worst affected area with 80-90 percent of buildings damaged,' said Elisabeth Byrs, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
'According to the local police, between 5,000 to 10,000 people have been killed and most bodies are still in the collapsed buildings,' she told AFP.
The assessment team which also surveyed Carrefour - with 334,000 inhabitants and Gressier - with 25,000 inhabitants, found that 40-50 percent of both towns to the west of the Haitian capital had been destroyed. 'Search and rescue teams are in these areas,' said Ms Byrs, who stressed that there was an 'urgent need for medical care.'
Some 27 international search and rescue teams comprising of 1,500 rescue workers and 115 dogs have already pulled out a total of 58 survivors from the debris, said Ms Byrs.
The survivors included 34 who were rescued on Friday, three days after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck, she added. 'The favourable climate and building structures have enhanced survivor chances,' she noted. 'So search and rescue is still the priority. The rescue phase will go on longer.' -- AFP
