Casualties HAITI EARTHQUAKE

The earthquake struck in the most populated area of the country. The International Red Cross announced that as many as 3 million people had been affected by the quake.[8] On 24 January the Haitian government gave a confirmed death toll of over 150,000 in the capital alone, with many more thousands dead in the rubble and outside the capital, and not including unreported bodies buried by relatives.[102]

Haitian authorities also estimated that 250,000 people sustained injuries, and as many as one million Haitians were left homeless.[103] Experts have questioned the validity of these numbers; Anthony Penna, professor emeritus in environmental history at Northeastern University, warned that casualty estimates could only be a "guesstimate",[104] and Belgian disaster response expert Claude de Ville de Goyet noted that "round numbers are a sure sign that nobody knows."[105] Edmond Mulet, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said, "I do not think we will ever know what the death toll is from this earthquake",[105] while the director of the Haitian Red Cross, Guiteau Jean-Pierre, noted that his organisation had not had the time to count bodies, as their focus had been on the treatment of survivors.[105]

The vast majority of casualties were Haitian civilians, but among the dead were aid workers, embassy staff, foreign tourists and a number of public figures which included Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot,[10] aid worker Zilda Arns and officials in the Haitian government, including opposition leader Michel "Micha" Gaillard.[11] Also killed were a number of well-known Haitian musicians[106] and sports figures, including thirty members of the Fédération Haïtienne de Football.[107] At least 70 United Nations personnel working with MINUSTAH were killed,[108] among them the Mission Chief, Hédi Annabi, and his deputy, Luiz Carlos da Costa.