Death Toll in Haiti Expected to be Over 100,000 Says Prime Minister

Officials in Haiti are expecting the death toll from the deadly January 12 earthquake to be over 100,000.

The capital, Port-au-Prince, "is flattened," said Haiti's consul general to the U.N., Felix Augustin, who said he believed more than 100,000 people were dead. Hospitals are gone, and medical supplies and heavy equipment are desperately needed, he said.

The country's prime minister said Haiti's death toll could be in the hundreds of thousands.

"I hope that is not true, because I hope the people had the time to get out," Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told CNN.  (Click here to see CNN's video)

President Rene Preval stated that he has heard initial death toll estimates from 30,000 to 100,000.

Adding to the death toll of the earthquake in Haiti is the collapse of the areas hospitals.  Many injuries that wouldn't necessarily have been life threatening are claiming the lives of Hatians.

Doctors Without Borders said its three hospitals in Haiti were unusable and it was treating the injured at temporary shelters.

"The reality of what we are seeing is severe traumas, head wounds, crushed limbs, severe problems that cannot be dealt with the level of medical care we currently have available with no infrastructure really to support it," said Paul McPhun, an operations manager for the charity.

It's too soon to have an accurate number, but the number will be horrific.