The death toll in Haiti rose to more than 2,200 around ten days after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the south of the country.

Many families used the past weekend to bury their loved ones who had passed away.

The commemorations were often improvised as numerous churches were destroyed by the earthquake.

Auxiliary workers continue to struggle to care for the large number of injured and to house the homeless.

According to Haitian authorities, more than 12,000 people were injured in the earthquake.

30,000 families have lost their homes.

Tjerk Brühwiller

Correspondent for Latin America based in São Paulo.

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In the meantime, several international rescue teams have arrived in the disaster area and other emergency services are on their way to support the overwhelmed Haitian authorities. More victims are still being found under the rubble.

The relief efforts are severely affected by gang violence in the country. A “ceasefire” negotiated last week with gangs blocking key roads did not last long. In the past few days, aid convoys have been ambushed and two doctors have been kidnapped. Relief supplies have to be transported by helicopter in order to arrive safely in the crisis region. At the weekend, the influential gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier offered his support to ensure a humanitarian corridor between the capital Port-au-Prince and the crisis region. In the region itself there are also increasing disputes over the scarce relief supplies among the population. Affected people fear that they will not find enough food for themselves and their children.

The earthquake damaged or destroyed much of the infrastructure in southern Haiti. The power supply, the connection routes, the telecommunications and above all the water supply are impaired. According to reports, several communities in the disaster area are without clean water. Despair and anger are growing among the population at the political class, which is accused of having put international aid money into their own pockets instead of into the country's infrastructure after the 2010 earthquake. Aid organizations fear that this could affect the provision of further funds.

Another reason for the reluctance is the political crisis in which the Caribbean country has been in for a long time and which reached a further climax with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July. The act of violence has still not been resolved. Haitian investigators are now investigating whether Moïse's murder may be linked to drug trafficking. Apparently, the commander of the president's bodyguard is believed to be among the suspects in a major human trafficking case. In the days before his murder, Moïse is said to have told friends that he was being targeted, according to conversations between the Reuters news agency and several people close to Moïse.