Rescue workers continued Monday to find Haiti quake survivors, while aid workers brought some relief amid the desperation that has sparked violence and looting to the estimated 1.5 million made homeless by last week's natural disaster.

The estimated deaths from the quake reached as high as 200,000, the European Union said, quoting Haitian officials who also said about 70,000 bodies have been recovered to date. About 250,000 were injured and 1.5 million were homeless, EU officials said.

The foreign affairs department said Monday that the Canadian death toll has risen to 12 with 849 people still missing.

Even though the quake hit almost a week ago, United Nations spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said it's still possible survivors could be found Monday.

"There are still people living," in collapsed buildings, she told The Associated Press. "Hope continues."

She said 70 lives have been saved by 1,700 rescue workers since Tuesday's quake.

On Sunday, two people were pulled from a collapsed supermarket. Officials said the two, in stable condition, survived the Jan. 12 quake by eating food that was trapped with them. Earlier in the day, a policeman reported three other people had been rescued from a market's rubble.

U.S. teams with search dogs found and rescued a 16-year-old Dominican girl trapped for five days in a small three-storey hotel that crumbled in downtown Port-au-Prince.

At the UN headquarters, destroyed in the quake, rescuers lifted a Danish staff member alive from the ruins, just 15 minutes after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited the site, where mission chief Hedi Annabi and at least 39 other staff members were killed.

Tensions increase

But tension and anger continue to mount as food and medical supplies trickle in.

Looters fight for goods taken from collapsed buildings in Port-au-Prince on Sunday. (Julie Jacobson/Associated Press)

CBC's David Common, reporting from Port-au-Prince, said the situation is more dangerous than it was a couple of days ago and is expected to worsen.

Haitian riot police fired tear gas to disperse crowds of looters in the city's downtown as several shops were burning.

"We are seeing, though, still sporadic, more frequent incidents of violence, some of them very large, involving hundreds of people, often around aid deliveries as competition for scarce resources becomes violent, volatile," Common said.

"We are also seeing instances of instant justice if you will — people who are looting shops are simply killed on the streets by the shopkeeper; incidents of mob justice, concerns about prisoners who escaped from the penitentiary, that they may be carrying out retribution as well."

Highlighting just how desperate Haitians have become following last week's quake, a crowd of up 4,000 people pressed against the gates of the Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince after a radio station broadcast a rumour that Canada would accept refugees, Common said. Soldiers had to be sent out to keep the crowd back.

Canada, he said, may accept some Haitians on a case-by-case basis for those with family already here. The crowd dissipated after a Canadian official went on radio to quell the refugee rumour.

Around 2,000 U.S. marines were expected to arrive Monday to help in the relief effort as anger mounts over slow distribution of emergency supplies. The marines will complement 1,000 U.S. troops already on the ground.

More Canadian help

Canadian ships HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Halifax, loaded with relief supplies, were just north of Haiti early Monday. Laroche said that while the Athabaskan will dock in Port-au-Prince, the Halifax is bound for Jacmel.

Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Sunday that an additional 1,000 Canadian Forces personnel will also be sent to Haiti.

About 7,000 UN military peacekeepers and 2,100 international police are in Haiti. Ban said Monday he asked the UN Security Council to add 2,000 troops and 1,500 police.

About 180 tonnes of relief supplies arrived Saturday, but scores of people on the street say none of it is reaching them. Bottlenecks at the capital's airport and the damaged harbour have made it logistically difficult to distribute supplies.

Geneva-based Doctors Without Borders said: "There is little sign of significant aid distribution."

UN World Food Program spokesman David Orr said Sunday the organization expected to reach 60,000 survivors, a rise from 40,000 on Saturday. UN officials said they must boost daily deliveries to two million within a month.

The World Health Organization said eight hospitals in Port-au-Prince were destroyed or damaged when the quake hit last Tuesday.

The largest hospital in the city, l'Hôpital Général, was functioning, but was overwhelmed by casualties on the weekend, according to World Vision. A number of donor countries have set up field hospitals to take the pressure off limited medical resources.