State media says eight Chinese killed in Haiti

This picture provided by Carel Pedre shows people running past rubble of a damaged building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Tuesday. The largest earthquake ever recorded in the area shook Haiti on Tuesday, collapsing a hospital where people screamed for help. Photo: AP.

An official Chinese newspaper says eight Chinese peacekeepers were killed in the earthquake that struck Haiti and that 10 others were missing.

The China Daily newspaper reported online on Wednesday that the figures on the Chinese casualties came from Liu Xiangyang, the vice-president of the China National Earthquake Disaster Emergency Rescue Team.

The organization says there are 125 Chinese in Haiti as part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. The U.N.’s Web site says they are all policemen. The countries do not have diplomatic relations.

It was the most powerful earthquake to hit Haiti in more than 200 years, and the U.N.’s five-storey headquarters was one of many buildings it destroyed.