US general: 200,000 dead Haitians just a ’start point’

[Amerigo Vespucci]

US general: 200,000 dead Haitians just a ’start point’

http://rawstory.com/2010/01/general-200000-dead-haitians-start-point/

By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, January 17th, 2010 -- 6:01 pm



Haitians sought comfort in their faith Sunday, flocking to pray in church ruins as rescue teams raced against time to pull out any final survivors five days after a devastating earthquake.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon flew in to assess what he called the "most serious humanitarian disaster in decades," while security degenerated in the capital with police killing a man as they fired on looters ransacking a market.

The leading US general on the ground warned that 200,000 might be a reasonable "start point" for the eventual toll, but said it was still too early to predict a figure that might never be accurately known.

"Clearly, this is a disaster of epic proportions, and we've got a lot of work ahead of us," said Lieutenant-General Ken Keen, who is running the vast US military relief operation in the stricken Caribbean nation.

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