Hunched on benches, curled up in chairs or even lying the floor, those injured in the powerful earthquake that wreaked havoc on Haiti on Saturday crowded an overburdened hospital near the epicenter.

The emergency room in Les Cayes, in southwestern Haiti, which was devastated by the 7.2-magnitude quake on Saturday morning that killed at least 724 people, is expecting reinforcements to help treat some of the thousands of injured.

"At the time of the earthquake, there were only three doctors in the emergency service," said Dr Michelet Paurus.

"This morning, it's getting better because we received orthopedists, surgeons and almost 42 residents distributed across all the hospitals of the department."

Dr Rudolphe Steven Jacques, 26, came to the hard-hit area from the capital Port-au-Prince.

"The lack of equipment is chronic," he told AFP, gesturing to a woman sat in a corner with a large open wound on her leg.

"This woman has been waiting for a while for me to do a suture but I don't have a tray for that at the moment."

Doctors and patients jostle in the small hospital rooms, as even more patients pour in.

"Many more injured are still arriving this morning, I wasn't expecting that. They are coming from more remote areas," Jacques said, adding the emergency service workers were "doing our best to treat people."

The violent quake destroyed over 13,600 buildings and thousands more were damaged, trapping hundreds of people under rubble and leaving more than 5,700 injured, the country's civil protection agency said.

- 'Overloaded' hospitals -

Hospitals in the country's third-largest city near the epicenter of the quake were quickly saturated with the massive influx of injured.

"When the earthquake happened... a tremor threw me in the air and I landed on my arm," recalled Venel Senat, in his forties. "Neighbors came to help me get a taxi. I went to several hospitals, but they were overloaded.

"This morning I came here and I was finally taken care of. I had an X-ray for free and they also put this cast on, free of charge," he said, as he waited for the medication prescribed to him to be available at the hospital, the pharmacy in town still shuttered.

Already treated but under observation, many injured settled on the lawns around the buildings, traumatized by frequent aftershocks and worried damaged structures may collapse.

"People are afraid to go back inside, but tonight it's going to rain," said Paurus, moving swiftly between departments.

"We're going to try to make them come inside this room because the roof is sheet metal. For the children in the pediatric ward, we're going to try to set up tents in the courtyard," he added.

Already injured, grieving and afraid to shelter indoors, Les Cayes residents now dread the torrential rains, violent winds and mudslides that could come with Tropical Depression Grace on Monday.

"If it rains as much as we predict, we really don't know what we will do. It's one hit after another," said Paurus.

Death toll in massive Haiti quake jumps to over 1,200
Les Cayes, Haiti (AFP) Aug 16, 2021 - The death toll from Haiti's powerful earthquake jumped to over 1,200 on Sunday, as crews desperately dug through collapsed buildings for survivors in the Caribbean nation still reeling from its president's assassination.

In Les Cayes, as in other hard-hit cities on the southwestern peninsula, most of the population spent the night sleeping outdoors in front of their houses -- or what remained of them -- amid fears of new aftershocks.

The streets there were filled with the grinding of heavy equipment lifting debris from collapsed buildings, as well as the quieter sounds of people pulling away rubble by hand while searching for the missing.

"Thanks to God and also to my phone, I'm alive," said Marcel Francois, who was rescued from his collapsed two-story home in Les Cayes.

His younger brother Job Francois said a desperate-sounding Marcel had called to say, "'Come save me, I'm under the concrete'... He told me he couldn't breathe, that he was dying."

The neighbors and Job spent hours freeing him and his 10-year-old daughter from the heavy debris.

At least 1,297 people were killed in the 7.2-magnitude quake that struck Saturday about 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the west of the densely populated capital Port-au-Prince, which was devastated in a massive 2010 quake.

Some 13,600 buildings were destroyed and more than 13,700 damaged, trapping hundreds under rubble and leaving more than 5,700 people injured, the country's civil protection agency said in an update.

- President assassinated -

Rescuers faced new pressure with Tropical Depression Grace approaching, raising fears of torrential rainfall, flash floods and mudslides from late Monday, according to the US National Weather Service.

The United States and other nations have pledged to help Haiti cope with this latest disaster.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman spoke with Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry on Sunday and said the United States was "already putting resources in place" to bolster the country's emergency response, spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

USAID head Samantha Power tweeted Sunday that her agency had deployed a 65-person urban search and rescue team -- equipped with "specialized tools, equipment & medical supplies" -- to join an earthquake disaster response team already in Haiti.

US Southern Command said it established a joint military task force for Haiti on Sunday and deployed a team to the country to assess impacted areas with aerial surveillance. Four helicopters were also dispatched to provide airlift support.

Haiti's neighbor the Dominican Republic said it was shipping 10,000 food rations and medical equipment. Mexico also sent an aid shipment. Cuba and Ecuador dispatched medical or search-and-rescue teams.

Chile, Argentina, Peru and Venezuela also offered help, as did the United Nations.

"We want to plan a better adapted response than in 2010 after the earthquake -- all aid coming from abroad should be coordinated by the Civil Protection agency," said Henry.

A 7.0-magnitude quake in January 2010 left much of Port-au-Prince and nearby cities in ruins, killing more than 200,000.

More than 1.5 million Haitians were made homeless in that disaster, which also destroyed 60 percent of Haiti's healthcare system, leaving authorities and the international humanitarian community with a colossal challenge.

The latest quake comes just over a month after President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home by a team of gunmen, shaking a country already battling poverty, spiraling gang violence and Covid-19.

Related Links
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Haiti searches for survivors after quake kills at least 304
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) Aug 15, 2021
Rescue workers scrambled to find survivors after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti early Saturday, killing at least 304 and toppling buildings in the disaster-plagued Caribbean nation still recovering from a devastating 2010 quake. The epicenter of the shaking, which rattled homes and sent terrified locals scrambling for safety starting around 8:30 am (1230 GMT), was about 100 miles (160 kilometers) by road west of the center of the densely populated capital Port-au-Prince. Church ... read more