The President of Haiti Rene Preval says tens of thousands of people are feared dead following Tuesday's earthquake which destroyed much of the capital Port-au-Prince. Schools and hospitals were among the buildings that collapsed. Survivors have been roaming the rubble-strewn streets of the capital, injured and unable to comprehend the devastation. Paul Adams has more.
Almost 24 hours after the quake struck, it's still proving very difficult to assess the scale of this disaster. But the images, voices and Internet postings pouring out of Haiti all paint the grimmest of pictures. The capital of the poorest country in the western hemisphere has been devastated. Even its grandiose presidential palace built by the US army core of engineers has collapsed. As many as two million people live close to the epic center, many of them in teeming slums that cling precariously to steep unstable hillsides. The senior adviser to the Haitian prime minister told the BBC the focus would be on emergency assistance. She said she didn't know anyone in Port-au-Prince with a home now safe to live in.
The Haitian president says the head of the United Nations mission to the country Hedi Annabi was killed in the earthquake. He said Mr Annabi's body was found in the UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince which collapsed when the quake quick struck. However, the UN says it has no confirmation of his death.
President Obama has promised full American support for Haiti to help it recover from the earthquake. He said "We have to be there for them in their hour of need". Officials in Washington said US navy ships in the region had been told to be ready themselves. The UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said international rescue teams were already on the ground.