US death toll in Haiti raised to 28; unspecified number of others presumed dead

US death toll in Haiti quake raised to 28

WASHINGTON — The State Department has raised the U.S. death toll in Haiti to 28.

Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the government has confirmed the deaths of one U.S. government official and 27 private American citizens. And he said an unspecified additional number are presumed — but not confirmed — to have died.

On Monday, the confirmed U.S. death toll stood at 24.

Crowley said there were roughly 45,000 Americans in Haiti when the quake struck last Tuesday. He said that about half of those have dual American-Haitian citizenship.

The department also said it has opened case files on about 9,000 Americans, based on inquiries into their welfare since the quake. It said it has positively accounted for about 3,500 of the 9,000. The status of the remaining 5,500 is unknown.