More than 100 UN staff missing
Source: Agencies |
January 14, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE United Nations said yesterday more than 100 people were missing in the rubble of its collapsed headquarters in Haiti, including the mission chief.
Nearly 40 other UN staff were also unaccounted for in other damaged buildings, it said.
UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said less than 10 people had been pulled out and reported "less than five" deaths.
He would not confirm French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's report that everyone in the UN building, including mission head Hedi Annabi, appeared to have died in the earthquake.
Le Roy also refused to confirm reports that Brazilian, Jordanian and Chinese peacekeepers were killed, saying the UN believed only "a very small number" of peacekeepers were killed because their buildings did not collapse.
"In Port-au-Prince we have now 3,000 forces. They are there to secure the airport, the port and the main buildings, and patrolling. That is already happening," Le Roy said.
Brazil's army said at least four Brazilian soldiers were killed and five injured, and Jordan's official news agency said three of its peacekeepers were killed and 21 injured.
The UN's Haitian mission - spread across the country - included 7,000 peacekeeping troops, 2,000 international police, 490 international civilian staffers, 1,200 local civilian staffers and 200 UN volunteers, Le Roy said.
The force was brought in after a bloody 2004 rebellion following decades of violence and poverty in the nation.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the international community "to come to Haiti's aid in this hour of need" and announced that the UN would provide US$10 million for relief from its emergency fund.
The UN chief said Annabi was meeting with a Chinese delegation at the time of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake and all were still unaccounted for.
Nearly 40 other UN staff were also unaccounted for in other damaged buildings, it said.
UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said less than 10 people had been pulled out and reported "less than five" deaths.
He would not confirm French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's report that everyone in the UN building, including mission head Hedi Annabi, appeared to have died in the earthquake.
Le Roy also refused to confirm reports that Brazilian, Jordanian and Chinese peacekeepers were killed, saying the UN believed only "a very small number" of peacekeepers were killed because their buildings did not collapse.
"In Port-au-Prince we have now 3,000 forces. They are there to secure the airport, the port and the main buildings, and patrolling. That is already happening," Le Roy said.
Brazil's army said at least four Brazilian soldiers were killed and five injured, and Jordan's official news agency said three of its peacekeepers were killed and 21 injured.
The UN's Haitian mission - spread across the country - included 7,000 peacekeeping troops, 2,000 international police, 490 international civilian staffers, 1,200 local civilian staffers and 200 UN volunteers, Le Roy said.
The force was brought in after a bloody 2004 rebellion following decades of violence and poverty in the nation.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the international community "to come to Haiti's aid in this hour of need" and announced that the UN would provide US$10 million for relief from its emergency fund.
The UN chief said Annabi was meeting with a Chinese delegation at the time of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake and all were still unaccounted for.
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