海地紅十字官員表示，發生在周二的里氏7.0級地震或將導致4.5到5萬人遇難，另有300萬人受傷或者無家可歸。另據聯合國發言人稱，此次海地地震中，目前有200位包括維和人員在內的聯合國工作人員失去聯絡，預計其中有50到100名維和人員被埋。地震導致位于太子港的國會大廈和其他政府建筑倒塌，致使其多數國家政府領導機構癱瘓。來自各國的救援人員和物資已陸續到達，但是尚沒有一個有效的管理機制來分配這些救援物資和人員。

The international Red Cross estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in Tuesday's cataclysmic earthquake, based on information from the Haitian Red Cross and government officials.

Doctors and search dogs, troops and rescue teams flew to this devastated land of dazed, dead and dying people Thursday, finding bottlenecks everywhere, beginning at a main airport short on jet fuel and ramp space and without a control tower.

The international Red Cross estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in Tuesday's cataclysmic earthquake, based on information from the Haitian Red Cross and government officials. Worries mounted, meanwhile, about food and water for the survivors.

"No one knows with precision, no one can confirm a figure. Our organization thinks between 45,000 and 50,000 people have died.

"We also think there are 3 million people affected throughout the country, either injured or homeless," Victor Jackson, an assistant national coordinator with Haiti's Red Cross said.

Earlier, Haitian President Rene Preval said 30,000 to 50,000 people could have died but did not say where the estimates came from.

Meanwhile, a United Nations spokeswoman said in Geneva yesterday that up to 200 international UN staff in Haiti, including peacekeepers, remain unaccounted for after its headquarters and other buildings collapsed in the earthquake.

Between 50 and 100 peacekeeping staff are believed trapped in the building. "In total, between 115 and 200 are unaccounted for, but it is an estimate from last night," Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Reuters.

The quake brought down Port-au-Prince's gleaming white National Palace and other government buildings, disabling much of the national leadership. That vacuum was evident Thursday.

"Donations are coming in to the airport here, but there is not yet a system to get it in," said Kate Conradt, a spokeswoman for the Save the Children aid group. "It's necessary to create a structure to stock and distribute supplies," the Brazilian military said.

相關閱讀

墨西哥豬流感＋地震 禍不單行

意大利地震至少150人死亡

日本：廁所短缺成地震后大難題

(Agencies)

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）