Death Toll In Haiti’s 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Surpasses 700, President Biden Responds

The death toll in the wake of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that devastated southwestern Haiti on Saturday, leaving at least 724 people dead and injuring another 2,800.

According to People, hundreds more are still missing or injured after an earthquake struck at about 8:30 a.m. local time, followed by a series of aftershocks.

The quake hit about five miles from the town of Petit Trou de Nippes and about 78 miles west of the capital city of Port-au-Prince, causing massive destruction and reducing buildings to rubble in the nearby towns.

A local hospital in the southern city of Jeremie has been so overwhelmed with an intake that they’ve been forced to set up triage tents in their courtyard to treat the many victims.

“There are a lot of people coming in — a lot of people,” an administrator at Hospital Saint Antoine told CNN. “We don’t have enough supplies.”

President Biden has pledged USAID support “to assess the damage and assist efforts to recover and rebuild.” He has appointed USAID Administrator Samantha Power to coordinate the U.S. relief effort. “The United States remains a close and enduring friend to the people of Haiti, and we will be there in the aftermath of this tragedy,” President Biden wrote in a statement shared on social media.