U.N. Death Toll from Haiti Quake Reaches 36
- 14 years ago
Search and rescue operations continue in Haiti as more bodies are recovered. 36 U.N. peacekeepers are confirmed dead, and one U.N. staff was rescued from the rubble.
U.N. officials confirmed on Thursday that 36 U.N. military and police officials have been killed in the Haiti earthquake. From the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed reporters about the fate of the U.N. staff.
[Ban Ki-moon, U.N. Secretary-General]: (English, Male)
"…The picture looks very much like, as it did, yesterday: approximately 150 U.N. staff remain unaccounted for, roughly 100 of them were likely in the U.N. headquarters building, the Christopher Hotel, when it collapsed."
A U.N. staff was rescued and pulled out from the rubble.
[Ban Ki-moon, U.N. Secretary-General]: (English, Male)
“…Early this morning another survivor, the Estonian close protection officer named Taro Joveer, was located when scratching sounds were heard…he was extracted from approximately four meters down the rubble. It was quite fortunate that we have him rescued.”
The fate of the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti, Hedi Annabi, is still unknown. Annabi was in the five-story U.N. peacekeeping mission's headquarters in Port-au-Prince when it collapsed during the earthquake, which struck at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
Ban said that U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes would issue a flash appeal, probably on Friday afternoon, for emergency funds for Haiti.
U.N. officials confirmed on Thursday that 36 U.N. military and police officials have been killed in the Haiti earthquake. From the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed reporters about the fate of the U.N. staff.
[Ban Ki-moon, U.N. Secretary-General]: (English, Male)
"…The picture looks very much like, as it did, yesterday: approximately 150 U.N. staff remain unaccounted for, roughly 100 of them were likely in the U.N. headquarters building, the Christopher Hotel, when it collapsed."
A U.N. staff was rescued and pulled out from the rubble.
[Ban Ki-moon, U.N. Secretary-General]: (English, Male)
“…Early this morning another survivor, the Estonian close protection officer named Taro Joveer, was located when scratching sounds were heard…he was extracted from approximately four meters down the rubble. It was quite fortunate that we have him rescued.”
The fate of the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti, Hedi Annabi, is still unknown. Annabi was in the five-story U.N. peacekeeping mission's headquarters in Port-au-Prince when it collapsed during the earthquake, which struck at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
Ban said that U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes would issue a flash appeal, probably on Friday afternoon, for emergency funds for Haiti.