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Deaths Rising After Quake Devastation

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Since the earthquake struck Haiti, the golden period of 72 hours to rescue survivors has now passed. As each extra hour passes, the chances of finding those still trapped beneath the debris alive diminish.

According to local officials, more than 40,000 bodies have already been buried, and the death toll is still rising.

So far, it's estimated the earthquake has killed more than 50,000 people but the final death toll could reach more than 140,000.

Another 250,000 have been injured. The catastrophic quake destroyed nearly 70 percent of the buildings in Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince.

It could have also left some 750,000 people homeless. At least 3 million people have been affected by the earthquake, the worst in the past 200 years.

The capital's main cemetery has reached full capacity, and people are having to take relatives' bodies to mass graves across the city. Over a 20-hour period, the local government removed 7,000 corpses from the streets and morgues and buried them in mass graves.

(CCTV January 17, 2010)