<<Print>>

The extent of the devastation from a huge quake in Haiti is slowly emerging, with a number of UN peacekeepers among thousands of people feared dead. ordan, Brazil and China have all reported deaths. UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the head of the UN mission in Haiti and many others were missing. The 7.0-magnitude quake, Haiti's worst in two centuries, struck south of the capital, Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday. The Red Cross says up to three million people have been affected. Describing the earthquake as a "catastrophe", Haiti's envoy to the US said the cost of the damage could run into billions of dollars. A number of nations, including the US, UK and Venezuela, are gearing up to send aid. The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude. The first tremor had hit at 1653 local time (2153 GMT) on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said. Phone lines to the country failed shortly afterwards. UN officials said at least five people had died when the UN's headquarters in Port au Prince collapsed and that more than 100 staff were unaccounted for and feared to be under the rubble. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said: "It would appear that all those who were in the building, including my friend [UN mission head] Hedi Annabi... and all those who were with him and around him are dead." UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon confirmed the Tunisian head of the UN mission in Haiti and his deputy were missing, along with many others. He said hundreds of people were feared dead and aerial reconnaissance showed Port au Prince had been "devastated" by the quake, although other areas were largely unaffected. Stressing a major international relief effort would be needed, Mr Ban said the UN would immediately release $10m (�6.15m) from its emergency response fund. The airport in Port au Prince and a UN logistical base are operational,the UN said, allowing aid to start arriving soon. China has already indicated in reports in state media that eight of its peacekeepers are dead, with another 10 unaccounted for. The AFP news agency quoted the Jordanian army as saying three of its peacekeepers had been killed and 21 wounded. The Brazilian army said four of its peacekeepers had been killed and a large number were missing. A French official also told AFP that about 200 people were missing in the collapsed Hotel Montana, which is popular with tourists. There were also some reports of looting overnight. Rachmani Domersant, an operations manager with the Food for the Poor charity, told Reuters the capital had been in total darkness overnight. "You have thousands of people sitting in the streets with nowhere to go." People were "trying to dig victims out with flashlights", he said. "Hundreds of casualties would be a serious understatement." Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and has suffered a number of recent disasters, including four hurricanes and storms in 2008 that killed hundreds.