The headquarters of the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti has sustained "serious damage" in the 7.3-magnitude earthquake which shook the Caribbean nation and a large number of UN personnel are unaccounted for,according to the UN peacekeeping chief. Hours after the devastating earthquake,which has flattened much of the capital Port-Au-Prince including the Presidential Palace,the UN officials do not know how many casualties the UN Peacekeeping force in Haiti (MINUSTAH) has suffered. The UN has 9,000 peacekeepers in the country which include over 7,000 soliders and 2,000 policemen. There are 200 Indians living in Haiti including 60-100 who work for the UN mission. "We don't have any figures for the time being. But we know clearly it is a tragedy for Haiti,and a tragedy for the UN,and especially for the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti," said Alain Le Roy,Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. "We know there will be casualties. But we cannot give figures for the time being," he added. The senior UN official reported that the main building that was the Headquarters of the UN forces,called the Hotel Christopher,has collapsed,and that Brazilian troops in the mission were trying to get people out of the building. "As we speak,no-one has been rescued from this main headquarters,but we don't know how many people were in the building when the collapse happened," Le Roy said. On Tuesday evening,a powerful earthquake of 7.0 magnitude rocked Haiti followed by aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude. A hospital reportedly collapsed and the presidential palace was also hit. Also missing is the Special Representative of the Secretary General,Heidi Annabi who was inside the headquarters when the earthquake hit. "We just know that he was in the building,as were many others. But we don't know how many others at the time of the collapse," Le Roy said. A mission commander on the ground described that there were many people on the streets of Haiti streets,a lot of traffic,and people moving around,but that around midnight things would calm down. The damage to the airport is still to be assessed. Shortly after the earthquake,UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed deep sympathy for Haitians who are caught in the natural disaster. Ban's office told journalists that former US President Bill Clinton,the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Haiti,called the Secretary-General to exchanged initial information on the disaster and agreed to talk again on Wednesday morning. "My heart goes out to the people of Haiti after this devastating earthquake. At this time of tragedy,I am very concerned for the people of Haiti and also for the many United Nations staff who serve there," he said.
