The UN Stabilization Mission for Haiti which is coordinating relief efforts said 600 people perished in the city of northern Gonaives alone, 60 Port de Paix and a further 49 in surrounding areas.

"Bodies keep being brought in," said Toussaint Kongo-Doudou, the spokesman for the UN mission.

"I'm afraid those figures are going to increase, as there are areas that still remain inaccessible," said Hans Havic of the International Federation of Red Cross Societies.

"There are a lot of villages we haven't been able to get to, and I'm afraid we may have bad surprises in days and weeks to come," he told AFP.

International, French, Dutch and Haitian officials were busy collecting and disinfecting bodies in Gonaives, where officials set up an improvised morgue on the university campus.

Some bodies were still stuck in mud and in the high water that remained in the town after the devastating floods caused on Sunday by Tropical Storm Jeanne.

In addition, hundreds of people were wounded, many by falling roofs. "In just one hour we registered 300 people being treated," said Havic.

"The situation is catastrophic," said Wolde Saugeron, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross

He said one of the first priorities was to deliver drinking water to Gonaive's population of 100,000.

But officials who flew over La Tortue said the island was far less affected than initially believed when some reports indicated it was completely submerged.

Several truckloads of emergency supplies, including food, medicine and water have been sent to Gonaives from Port-au-Prince.

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