EU sends €3m emergency aid package to Hait i -100.000 feared dead

The European Union is sending an initial emergency aid package to Haiti worth €3m( US 4.5m) following talks in Brussels led by new foreign affairs supremo Cathy Ashton.

After convening an “emergency co-ordination meeting” with the Commissioners responsible for humanitarian aid and civil protection, Baroness Ashton, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and a commission vice-president, said: “We are troubled by the reports on the devastating earthquake in Haiti. “We are still gathering information to understand the impact on the population. My colleagues in the commission and I offer our full assistance to Haiti and will mobilise all available instruments to support the population of Haiti in this difficult time. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.”

Working with the United Nations, EU priority will be given to contributing to search and rescue teams, water purification and the provision of field hospitals.

Note EU-Digest: Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told CNN the final death toll from the 7.0 quake could be "well over 100,000," as an international aid effort geared up in a race against time to pull survivors from the ruins. The temblor 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. Five people were confirmed dead in the UN headquarters, and the head of the peacekeeping mission, Tunisian Hedi Annabi, was among the missing.

For the complete report: Haiti rocked by huge earthquake | IOL