Haitian President Rene Preval has said thousands of people are feared dead following a huge quake which has devastated the country’s capital. UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the head of the UN mission in Haiti and his deputy were among more than 100 staff missing.

The 7.0-magnitude quake, Haiti’s worst in two centuries, struck south of Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday. The Red Cross says up to three million people are affected.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and has suffered a number of recent disasters, including four hurricanes and storms in 2008 that killed hundreds.

(via BBC)

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“A man helped an injured person after the quake. Haiti, by far the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, has been beset by natural disasters for most of its recent history.” Photo credit: Tequila Minsky for The New York Times)