Doctors from the University of Miami hospital speak during a news conference at the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Monday after a man was pulled from rubble nearly a month after the earthquake.Doctors from the University of Miami hospital speak during a news conference at the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Monday after a man was pulled from rubble nearly a month after the earthquake. (Kena Betancur/Reuters)

A 28-year-old man was pulled from rubble in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Monday, claiming to have been trapped there since the massive earthquake on Jan. 12, according to media reports.

Villagers were rummaging through the ruins of a marketplace when they found the man buried underneath. Two Haitians told medical officials he may have been supplied with food and water during his reported ordeal.

Nery Ynclan, a University of Miami media officer in Haiti, said the patient was in stable condition Tuesday and being treated for dehydration and malnutrition at a field hospital near the airport.

The man identified himself as Evans Monsigrace, 28, she said, adding that his family told doctors varying accounts of his ordeal.

The man has normal kidney function, suggesting he had food and water at least for a week if he was trapped Jan. 12, Ynclan said. "Someone could not survive 28 days without water," she said. "You can go nine weeks without food.

"He came in delirious, asking to die," Ynclan added, saying Creole translators were at the field hospital. "He's still out of it. He answers basic questions," she said, adding that he is nibbling on chocolate and probably will be at the field hospital for a week.

Death toll expected to rise

Meanwhile, Haiti's government raised the death toll of the earthquake to 230,000 on Tuesday, a figure that matches the toll of the 2004 tsunami in Asia. The toll is expected to rise further as more bodies are counted.

Another 300,000 people were injured in the quake, including an estimated 2,000 to 4,000 people who required amputations, often necessary because fractures have been left untreated for too long.

The Canadian government says at least 27 Canadians were killed in the quake, while 70 Canadians are still unaccounted for.

With files from The Associated Press