Imphal, January 13 2010: Port-au-Prince, Jan 13: Bodies littered Haiti's Capital today after a massive earthquake that may have killed thousands of people as it collapsed shanty-towns, luxury hotels and even the presidential palace.

With victims pinned under debris and powerful aftershocks rattling the country, looting broke out soon after the 7.0 magnitude quake which spared no part of the Capital Port-au-Prince, which was close to the epicentre.

Injured residents of the crowded city poured into the streets screaming in panic with each new tremor.

Many bodies were just left in the streets or crushed under debris.

Estimates of the death toll ranged from hundreds to thousands but with every hour passing it was becoming clear that the destruction and loss of life was catastrophic.

The quake toppled the cupola on the gleaming white presidential palace, a major hotel where 200 tourists were missing and the headquarters of the UN mission in Haiti where up to 250 personnel were unaccounted for.

The force's head Hedi Annabi was among those feared dead, according to France's foreign Minister.

Jordan reported that three of its peacekeepers were killed and 21 wounded in the quake, the most powerful to hit the country in more than a century.

Brazil said four of its peacekeepers were killed while eight Chinese soldiers were buried in rubble and 10 were missing, State media said.

A major international relief operation was set underway with the United States, France, Britain and other countries promising help.

Two hundred foreigners were missing at the Hotel Montana, French Secretary of State for Cooperation Alain Joyandet said.

"We know there were 300 people inside the hotel when it collapsed, only around 100 have got out, which greatly concerns us," he told French radio.

A hospital in the suburb of Petionville collapsed, as did Ministries, schools, homes in luxury districts and hillside shanties, businesses and markets.

Police, UN and Red Cross vehicles tried to ferry the wounded to hospital, but progress was slow as roads were torn up by the powerful ripples from the quake.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported 27 strong aftershocks hit the country in the hours after the initial 2153 GMT quake.

USGS geophysicist Susan Potter said the last earthquake of such magnitude to strike Haiti was in 1897, and possibly as far back as 1770.Sara Fajardo of Catholic Relief Services told AFP that buildings across the street from their headquarters collapsed, and that staff were terrified the aftershocks would topple more buildings.

"Most of the Catholic Relief Services staff is going to be sleeping on the CRS office compound but they're sleeping outside because they're too afraid to sleep indoors out of safety concerns," Fajardo said.

"The center of Port-au-Prince has been destroyed, it's a catastrophe," wailed a man named Pierre, so traumatised he could hardly speak as he surveyed the disaster.

Haiti's ambassador to the United States, Raymond Alcide Joseph, described the quake to CNN as "a catastrophe of major proportions." Haiti's ambassador to Mexico, Robert Manuel, told reporters that Haitian President Rene Preval and his wife "are alive and well" but did not provide further information on them.

The headquarters of the UN mission in Haiti (MINUS-TAH), which has served as a peacekeeping mission since 2004, was destroyed.

"There are numerous people underneath the rubble, both dead and injured," a local employee said.

UN chief Ban Kimoon was to meet top advisors today to decide how to respond to the emergency.

Nations around the world offered aid and the United States, France, Canada and Govts across Latin America geared to send help, while the international Red Cross mobilised relief supplies from Panama.

US President Obama said "My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by this earthquake" .

Comment