Haiti earthquake: Death toll surpasses 2,200 as 344 people still missing

The death toll from Haiti’s earthquake this month has risen to more than 2,200, with 344 people still missing, the country’s civil protection agency said.

Search and rescue efforts are still underway in Haiti after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit on August 14, but support from foreign agencies has been hampered by gangs that have hijacked aid trucks.

The nation, so often blighted by natural disasters, has seen 12,268 people injured and nearly 53,000 homes destroyed by the latest devastating quake.

The death toll was increased from 2,189 on Wednesday to 2,207 on Sunday.

The new toll comes at a time when relief operations are expanding — the US-based aid agency Samaritan’s Purse opened a field hospital on Saturday — but authorities are struggling with security at distribution points.

Reports say armed gangs attacked aid convoys on their way to provide support to struggling communities and desperate crowds have scuffled over bags of food.

It comes after the Port-au-Prince hospital was closed when two doctors were kidnapped by criminals.

The country is said to still be recovering from the 2010 earthquake, which killed around 250,000 people and injured 300,000.

Meanwhile, the damage wrought to buildings by last Saturday’s earthquake meant some church services in the hard-hit city of Les Cayes were forced to be held outdoors on Sunday.

The quake was centred on the impoverished nation’s southwestern peninsula.