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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Death toll of UN staff in Haiti rises |
| 2010-01-14 |
| UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 UN personnel were killed in an earthquake that struck Haiti's capital of Port au Prince on Tuesday, UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday after an informal meeting of the General Assembly. The 16 include 11 Brazilian peacekeepers, one Argentinean, three Jordanian police officers, and one Chadian police officer, said Ban. As this is only a preliminary figure, more casualties are expected, he added. The UN has said that about 150 of its employees working there are still trapped in collapsed buildings and remain unaccounted for, including the mission chief Hedi Annabi and his deputy special representative Luiz Carlos da Costa. According to reports from Haitian President Rene Preval, Hedi Annabi is dead. Ban said he has been trying to contact Preval since early Wednesday morning. "I have only been able to speak with the ambassador here," Leo Merores, who has been trying to arrange for a telephone call. However, no one at UN headquarters appears to have been able to reach Preval because communication lines are either down or overloaded. In the meantime, Ban said he would be dispatching Edmond Mullet, a UN undersecretary general, to assume full command of the UN mission. |
| Posted by:Steve White |