As an engineer I would not mix a count of direct fatalities and an estimate, which I would expect to be not very accurate.
However the estimate can be useful to indentify potential risks and needs for the aftermath and help to plan for them. Keeping the data separate may make it more readily available for use in planning for other disasters and maybe even humanitary crisis.
Adding the figures up to a total may make some people feel better or provide arguments when asking for support as it illustrates how hard they were hit. That can be a value in itself.