More than 1,000 people have died in Haiti due to the cholera epidemic affecting the impoverished country, Haitian Health Minister Gabriel Timothee said on Tuesday.

Haiti cholera outbreak

According to news from Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, Timothee also said that about 16,800 people have been hospitalized due to this disease.

However, according to him, last week there was a reduction of the number of deaths, dropping from 66 weekly to 46.

The most affected departments are Artibonite, Norte and Oeste, said Timothee.

Timothee said some 15,000 patients in hospital have returned home and he believes that the daily number of deaths will soon fall.

Meanwhile, some Haitians on Monday clashed with the UN blue helmets. Some media reports said the Haitians were protesting against the Nepali troops who are deployed in the country, blaming them for the outbreak of the epidemic.

The clashes continued on Tuesday, despite the fact that the UN has said there is no evidence to support this accusation against the Nepali troops.

A UN spokesperson said Tuesday in Geneva that the priority now is not to investigate the origin of the cholera outbreak in Haiti, but rather to control the diseases and help the people infected.

"It is clear that some of the attacks, verbal and now physical attacks, against the peacekeepers are politically motivated," the spokesperson told reporters.?