au-Prince, Feb 22, 2010, SPA -- An aftershock caused panic today on the streets of Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, six weeks after a massive quake devastated the city and killed at least 217,000 people, dpa reported. Haitian President Rene Preval said Sunday that the death toll in the 7-magnitude quake of January 12 could reach as high as 300,000. Only hours later, a quake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale sent people rushing to the streets of Port-au-Prince, particularly in its devastated centre, the local Radio Metropole reported. Speaking at a summit of Caribbean countries and Mexico in the Mexican resort city of Cancun, Preval issued a new plea to the international community for immediate relief and long-term help to rebuild Haiti, which was already the poorest country in the Western hemisphere before the disaster. The known death toll is already at least 217,000, but tens of thousands of victims could still be buried in the rubble, Preval said.
