Earthquake in Haiti kills 50,000+

HEALTH - The death toll for yesterday's earthquake in Haiti keeps rising, with current estimates over 50,000 dead. Outside Port-au-Prince's General Hospital at least 1,500 bodies were stacked and waited to be picked up by trucks. More bodies keep filling up the streets as people search through the rubble for survivors.

UPDATE: Approx. 230,000 people died during the January 12th 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince Haiti.

Police gather up the bodies and take them to hospital parking lots where they wait to be picked up and eventually identified.

Approx. 3 million Haitians are now injured and/or homeless and the country is growing desperate as foreign aid slowly trickles into the country. The US military is managing the landing of planes, but in typical American fashion they seem to have miscalculated and bungled the attempt. Many of the planes carrying aid have been forced to land elsewhere to refuel as they circle the capitol and wait for the signal to land.

The 7.0 quake struck Tuesday night and was the worst earthquake to hit the island in 200 years. Four Canadians are already among the dead and many more Canadians are missing.

UPDATE: 6 confirmed Canadian deaths and 1,362 Canadians are still missing in Haiti.

Over a hundred Canadians have already been evacuated from Haiti, suggesting its easier to get out of the country right now than to get in. Injured Canadians are the first to be evacuated so they can receive medical attention in Canada.

There are approx. 6,000 Canadians living in Haiti, with about 100 currently taking refuge at the Canadian embassy. The Canadian government says it will match every dollar Canadians give to the relief effort in Haiti, up to a max. of $50 million. So far donation websites for the Haiti relief fund have crashed due to sheer numbers.

The United States so far has pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid and have called upon the American military to swiftly deliver it.

Right: The Haitian Presidential Palace lies in ruins, before and after.

Two Canadian warships carrying humanitarian aid left for Haiti today and another aircraft, a Hercules airplane, are already on its way.

Nearby Cuba already has 300 doctors in Haiti providing assistance, a rare opportunity for Cubans and Americans to work together (something which hasn't happened since WWII when Cuba helped fight the Japanese, the Germans and the Italians).