The toll from Haiti’s 7.2-magnitude earthquake climbed to 1,941 on Wednesday, AP reported. More than 9,900 people were injured in the earthquake that struck on Saturday morning.

The epicentre of the quake was about 125 km west of the country’s capital of Port-au-Prince. Rescue workers have been digging through the rubble since Saturday.

The United Nations Children’s Fund on Tuesday estimated that 1.2 million Haitians have been affected by the earthquake, including 5,40,000 children. It also said that 84,000 houses were damaged or destroyed.

“Right now, about half a million Haitian children have limited or no access to shelter, safe water, healthcare and nutrition,” the UNICEF representative in Haiti, Bruno Maes said.

The United Nations said it had allocated $8 million in emergency funds to provide relief for affected people, Reuters reported.

Tropical storm Grace batters Haiti

Soon after the quake, the tropical storm Grace arrived in Haiti on Tuesday, triggering flash floods and landslides, The Guardian reported. Power was cut during the storm and was out until Tuesday, disrupting communication lines.

The storm made landfall on the island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic.

Haiti’s healthcare centres have run out of space and are struggling to treat those injured. In the city of Jeremie, doctors provided treatment to patients on hospital stretchers placed under trees, and on mattresses along the roadside, Reuters reported.

An increase in kidnappings has left some roads in Port-au-Prince dangerous to drive on, Reuters reported. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs said “successful negotiations” had made it possible for a convoy to reach Les Cayes. However, the relief work has been affected by the storm.

A bulldozer clears the rubble of a building that collapsed in the earthquake in Brefet, a neighbourhood of Les Cayes, Haiti, on August 17. The toll from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti has risen to 1,941, the Caribbean nation's civil protection agency said Tuesday, as a tropical storm brought torrential downpours on survivors already coping with catastrophe. (Credit: Reginald Louissaint Jr/AFP

Prime minister promises more aid

Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was sworn in on July 20 after President Jovenel Moise was assassinated, has promised to disburse more aid than was given during the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Around 2.3 lakh people had died in the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010. May Haitians said that though billions of dollars were given in aid to Haiti after the earthquake, few benefits were seen from the uncoordinated efforts, according to Reuters.