Haitian president says quake toll could reach 300,000

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Haitian President Rene Preval said here on Sunday that as many as 300,000 people died in the devastating earthquake that rocked the country on Jan. 12.

Haitian President Rene Preval (C) arrives at the international airport of Cancun, a resort city on Mexico's Caribbean coast, Feb. 21, 2010. The leaders of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) arrived here on Sunday for the Mexico-Caricom Summit on Sunday and Group of Rio Summit on Monday and Tuesday. (Xinhua)

In his opening speech to the first Mexico-Caricom Summit held in Playa del Carmen, a Caribbean coast resort in Mexico, Preval said: "More than 200,000 bodies have been recovered from the streets, (and) with those under the rubble that figure could reach 300,000."

Preval, who after the Sunday summit will also take part in a Group of Rio Summit here on Monday and Tuesday, thanked the host Mexico for all the aid it had provided for Haiti's earthquake victims.