new york - The United Nations and humanitarian agencies called Thursday for the immediate opening of a humanitarian corridor in Haiti to allow fuel to be accessed at the country's main fuel terminal.

"What we need is to unblock the fuel terminal so we can get fuel to pump clean water, to reopen the hospitals, to allow families to get access to potable water," said Ulrika Richardson, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator for Haiti.

The Varreux Terminal, which is Haiti's main entry point for fuel, has been blocked by armed gangs since mid-September, causing widespread fuel shortages.

"This is killing people - literally killing people," Richardson told reporters of the shortages, during a video briefing from Haiti.

The Caribbean island nation has been in the grips of widespread gang-driven violence for more than a year. They are seeking to exploit the political vacuum left by the assassination of President Jovenel Moise at his home in Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021.

The United Nations estimates that 1.5 million people have been directly affected by the violence, and 20,000 have fled their homes seeking safety. Rape and other sexual violence are being used "systematically."

Cholera returns

Haiti, already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has had its troubles compounded by a severe economic crisis that has sparked massive protests and looting, and now the return of cholera.

Richardson said on Sunday that there were two confirmed cases of the waterborne disease, after nearly three years without a reported case. Since Sunday, she said, there have been 11 confirmed cases and seven deaths. There are currently 111 suspected cases and about another 20 samples pending results at the national laboratory, but actual numbers could be "much higher," she said. All have been in the capital, Port-au-Prince, but in various neighborhoods.

She warned that the situation can evolve rapidly, and with the current conditions in the country, Haiti could be "in for quite an exponential if not an explosive increase of cholera cases."

A cholera epidemic ravaged the country after the devastating 2010 earthquake, infecting more than 800,000 people and killing an estimated 10,000. The outbreak was traced to sewage from a U.N. peacekeeping camp that contaminated a main water supply. It took the U.N. six years to admit its role in the epidemic.