Brazilian peacekeepers check the damage to the UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince Wednesday after Haiti's devastating earthquake. Eleven Brazilian soldiers from a UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti were killed in the quake, Brazil's army said Wednesday.
Eduardo Munoz/REUTERS
At least 15 UN peacekeepers killed in Haiti quake (click here)
January 14, 2010, 2:21pmBRASILIA, January 13, 2010 (AFP) - The earthquake in Haiti killed at least 15 peacekeepers with the Brazilian-led UN mission there, and Brazil's defense minister was on his way to the Caribbean state to assess the blow, officials said Wednesday.
At least 11 Brazilian soldiers, three Jordanian soldiers and one Argentine gendarme were killed, military officials from the three countries said.
Seven Brazilian soldiers and another Argentine gendarme were missing.
Eight Chinese members of the peacekeeping mission were also buried in building collapses, according to China's State Council. It did not say whether they were believed to be alive or dead.
Brazil has announced it is sending 10 million dollars in immediate disaster aid to Haiti, including 28 tonnes of drinking water and food including sugar, powdered milk and sardines.
Defense Minister Nelson Jobim and army chief General Enzo Martins Peri left from Brasilia on Wednesday for the ravaged Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, military spokesman General Carlos Alberto Barcellos said.
Several of the 1,266 Brazilian soldiers in the peacekeeping force were missing following Tuesday's brutal 7.0-magnitude earthquake that flattened much of Haiti's capital, Barcellos said.
The spokesman stressed that any additional Brazilian fatalities would only be made public once next-of-kin were notified.
The surviving soldiers in the Brazilian contingent were now carrying out disaster relief operations, though were hampered by debris-blocked roads and teetering buildings, he said....
Obama expresses condolences for peacekeeper losses (click here)
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 13, 2010; 11:11 PM
WASHINGTON -- President Barak Obama has offered his condolences to the U.N. secretary-general and president of Brazil for the loss of U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti's devastating earthquake.
Calls to Ban Ki-moon and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were among the handful of world leaders and the U.S. ambassador to Haiti that Obama made to discuss search-and-rescue efforts in Haiti.
The U.N. chief, da Silva and the presidents of Mexico and Chile, along with Canada's prime minister described their short- and long-term support to assist in Haiti's recovery.
Obama's attempts to reach Haiti's president, Rene Preval, have not been successful.
Bill Clinton: Haiti Quake Tragedy for Millions, United Nations (ckick here)
Former President, Now a U.N. Special Envoy, Calls on Americans to Donate Cash
By DEVIN DWYER
Jan. 13, 2010
The disaster in Haiti, affecting more than 3 million people, may be one of the most devastating tragedies ever to hit the United Nations, Former President Bill Clinton told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an interview for “World News.”
The former president weighs in on Afghanistan, health care reform and race.
Clinton, who was appointed the United Nations' special envoy to Haiti in May 2008, said the U.N. itself has been hit hard.
"Our U.N. hotel, as you know, [was] five stories [and] completely collapsed. Today, only 10 people [were] recovered alive," Clinton told Stephanopoulos.
At least 16 U.N. employees, including chief of the U.N. mission in Haiti, Hedi Annabi, have died, with at least 56 more injured, a U.N. spokesman told ABC News.
"It's highly likely to be the highest mortality count we've ever had," Clinton said….
