Haiti Earthquake Kills Children

The capital city of Port-au-Prince was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0.

Some 3 million people are affected, and half of those are children. Officials estimate the death toll could be in the hundreds of thousands.

Little Haitian girl died

In any disaster, children are the most vulnerable. They are in danger of being separated from their families, and they are at increased risk of injury, disease, malnutrition and every form of exploitation and abuse. Undoubtedly, with a disaster of this magnitude, these threats will be particularly grave for Haiti’s children.

Gareth Owen, the director of Save The Children emergencies:

“Thousands will have lost all contact with their families and friends and are now struggling to survive alone in the rubble.

“They are sleeping on their own, trying to cope with the trauma of seeing dead bodies, and will have no idea where to go for help.

“Children mimic adults in these sorts of crises. They see grown-ups scrabbling through the debris looking for bodies and will try to follow suit. Aside from the damage this is doing to their mental health, it’s putting their safety in danger as buildings will be very unstable and may still collapse.”