Almost 300,000 died in 2010 natural disasters

The massive earthquake in Haiti a year ago accounted for about two thirds of the toll, killing more than 222,500 people, according to the Belgium-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED).

The CRED found that the summer heatwave in Russia was the second deadliest disaster of the year, leaving 55,736 people dead, according to figures it compiled from insurers and media reports of official sources.

The year was