US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has become the first senior Western official to arrive in Haiti after the earthquake that flattened¹ the capital.

美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿成为海地大地震之后第一位到达地震现场访问的西方高级官员。

Mrs Clinton told the Haitian people that the US would be "here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead".

Tens of thousands of people were killed and survivors² have grown desperate as they wait for aid to arrive.

The UN has meanwhile confirmed the head of its mission in Haiti has been found dead in the rubble碎石，碎砖 of its headquarters.

Earlier, Chinese rescuers told the Xinhua news agency that the body of Hedi Annabi, a Tunisian, had been recovered from the building in Port-au-Prince at 1422 local time (2022 GMT) on Saturday.

In a statement issued shortly afterwards, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also confirmed the death of Mr Annabi's deputy, Luiz Carlos da Costa of Brazil, and the acting⁴ police commissioner⁵, Doug Coates of Canada.

"Their dearest wish, I'm sure, would be that we carry forward the noble work that they and their colleagues performed so well," said Mr Ban.

Criticism 'not fair'

Mrs Clinton, who is being accompanied by US Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator⁶ Rajiv Shah, arrived on a US Coast Guard C-130 carrying aid and is to leave on another with evacuees疏散人员.

After discussing the relief effort with the President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive at the airport, she told a news conference that the United States was "a friend, a partner and a supporter" of Haiti.

"We are here at the invitation of your government to help you," she told Haitians. "We will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead."

"Speaking personally, I know of the great resilience恢复力 and strength of the Haitian people. You have been severely⁸ tested, but I believe that Haiti can come back even better and stronger in the future."

Earlier, Mrs Clinton dismissed criticism that aid was not leaving the airport and being delivered to the people who needed it, saying 14 distribution centres were being established around the capital to deliver food and water to the two million people that the US and UN estimates need emergency aid.