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Haiti quake death toll rises to 1,419, injured now at 6,000

Haiti Earthquake
Posted at 7:18 PM, Aug 16, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-16 19:18:34-04

LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) — Haitian authorities have raised the death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck Haiti over the weekend to 1,419.

The country's Civil Protection Agency also said Monday that the number of injured people has grown to 6,000.

The earthquake, which struck Saturday about 80 miles west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, destroyed thousands of homes, offices, churches, and other structures.

According to the Associated Press, tents were going to be put up, but the director of Les Cayes General Hospital was told that could not be safe.

And the devastation could soon worsen with the coming of Tropical Depression Grace, predicted to reach Haiti on Monday night with strong winds, heavy rain, mudslides, and flash flooding.

Rainfall could reach 15 inches (38 centimeters) in some areas.

Civil Protection chief Jerry Chandler told reporters officials are working to get resources to the hardest-hit areas.

On Monday, rescuers and scrap metal scavengers dug into the floors of a collapsed hotel, where 15 bodies had already been extracted.