Quake death toll in Haiti is of 50,000 plus: health minister

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- More than 50,000 people were killed and other 250,000 were injured during the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday, Haitian Health Minister Alex Larsen told a press conference on Friday.

The catastrophic quake could have also left some 1.5 million Haitians homeless, Larson said.

He said the Haitian government institutions were moved to a police station near the international airport, as the Presidential Palace and ministries' office buildings totally collapsed after the disaster.

All the sport centers in the capital city Port-au-Prince will be used as medical centers to assist the injured, Larson added.

The devastating quake on Tuesday destroyed nearly 70 percent of the buildings in Port-au-Prince. The presidential palace, ministries' offices, hospitals and schools were all affected.

The United Nations, International Red Cross, other organizations and Haitian government officials estimated a probable death toll of 100,000 victims and at least 3 million people affected by the earthquake, the worst in the recent 200 years of the Caribbean country's history.