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The Haitian capital was largely destroyed in the most powerful earthquake to hit the country in more than 200 years. Journalists from The Associated Press described severe and widespread casualties after a tour of streets where blood and bodies could be seen.

The damage was described as staggering even in a country accustomed to tragedy and disaster. AP reporters said the National Palace was a crumbled ruin and tens of thousands of people were homeless.

The death toll from Haiti's earthquake could be between 45,000 and 50,000, with a further three million people hurt or homeless, a senior Haitian Red Cross official said on Thursday.

"No one knows with precision, no one can confirm a figure. Our organization thinks between 45,000 and 50,000 people have died. We also think there are 3 million people affected throughout the country, either injured or homeless," Victor Jackson, an assistant national coordinator with Haiti's Red Cross said.

Workers are carving out mass graves on a hillside north of Haiti's capital, using earth-movers to bury 10,000 earthquake victims in a single day while relief workers warn that people are still dying of their injuries.

Medical clinics have 12-day patient backlogs, untreated injuries are festering and makeshift camps housing thousands of survivors could foster disease, experts said.

"The next health risk could include outbreaks of diarrhea, respiratory tract infections and other diseases among hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in overcrowded camps with poor or nonexistent sanitation," said Dr. Greg Elder, deputy operations manager for Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.

Fourteen-month-old Abigail Charlot survived Haiti's cataclysmic earthquake but not its miserable aftermath. Brought into the capital's General Hospital with fever and diarrhea, little Abigail literally dried up.

"Sometimes they arrive too late," said Dr. Adrien Colimon, the chief of pediatrics, shaking her head.

The second stage of Haiti's medical emergency has begun, with diarrheal illnesses, acute respiratory infections and malnutrition beginning to claim lives by the dozen.