海地红十字官员表示，发生在周二的里氏7.0级地震或将导致4.5到5万人遇难，另有300万人受伤或者无家可归。另据联合国发言人称，此次海地地震中，目前有200位包括维和人员在内的联合国工作人员失去联络，预计其中有50到100名维和人员被埋。地震导致位于太子港的国会大厦和其他政府建筑倒塌，致使其多数国家政府领导机构瘫痪。来自各国的救援人员和物资已陆续到达，但是尚没有一个有效的管理机制来分配这些救援物资和人员。

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 devastated¹极为震惊的，毁坏的 land of dazed茫然的，头昏的, dead and dying people Thursday, finding bottlenecks瓶颈 everywhere, beginning at a main airport short on jet fuel and ramp斜坡 space and without a control tower.

The international Red Cross estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in Tuesday's cataclysmic大变动的，洪水的 earthquake, based on information from the Haitian Red Cross and government officials. Worries mounted, meanwhile, about food and water for the survivors⁴.

"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 affected⁵ throughout the country, either injured or homeless," Victor Jackson, an assistant national coordinator协调者 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下落不明的 for after its headquarters and other buildings collapsed⁷ 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 Coordination⁸ of Humanitarian⁹ 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真空，空间 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.