Thousands of people need urgent humanitarian aid because many public buildings collapsed, said Mauricio Bustamante, operation coordinator of the International Federation of Red Cross, adding that up to 100,000 people might have died.
The money will provide assistance to some 5,000 affected families and to support aid operations centered on temporary shelters, repair of water facilities, as well as medical assistance, said Bustamante.
The IFRC based in Panama for Latin America had already sent in a team of experts to evaluate emergency needs.
The IFRC said that the most affected areas were in West province, which has a population of 2.2 million.
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China sends rescue team to quake-hit Haiti, donates one million dollars
Scared people stand nearby a collapsed building after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Port-Au-Prince of Haiti, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010.
A female armed police official helps fastening helmet of a female member of a Chinese rescue team before the 60-member team's departure for quake-hit Haiti, at the Capital International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 13, 2010. The team consist of search and rescue personnel, who have conducted many rescue tasks of this kind in the past years, and three sniffer dogs.
Members of a Chinese rescue team with sniffer dogs are ready to board a plane leaving for quake-hit Haiti, at the Capital International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 13, 2010. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday local time, collapsing a hospital and damaging government buildings in its capital city of Port-au-Prince.
Members of a Chinese rescue team are ready to depart for quake-hit Haiti, at the Capital International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 13, 2010
China sent a 60-member Chinese search and rescue team to quake-hit Haiti on Wednesday evening and the Red Cross Society of China has decided to donate one million U.S. dollars of emergency aid to the Caribbean country.
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday local time, collapsing a hospital and damaging government buildings in its capital city of Port-au-Prince.
Eight Chinese peace-keeping police were buried under debris, according to a statement from the State Council.
China has no diplomatic ties with Haiti. Currently, 125 Chinese peace-keeping police are in Haiti.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have made directives demanding the rescue of those buried, protection of Chinese nationals and provision of humanitarian assistance to Haiti, said the statement.
The team flying to Haiti consisted of search and rescue personnel, doctors, and three sniffer dogs, Liu Xiangyang, deputy chief of the National Earthquake Disaster Emergency Rescue Team, told Xinhua at the Beijing Capital International Airport.
"Most of the members are experienced in rescue operations," said Liu at a departure ceremony at the airport. The team also took with them some food, equipment and medicine.
"Our equipment and personnel might be limited, but we have confidence that we can complete our task successfully," said Hou Shike, a doctor responsible for the medical group.
China has expressed its sympathy to Haiti regarding the major earthquake earlier Wednesday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement on Wednesday that the Red Cross Society of China had decided to provide emergency aid to Haiti.
Chinese leaders were very concerned with the safety of Chinese nationals including peacekeepers, compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and overseas Chinese, and has made arrangements for conducting rescue operations as soon as possible, said Jiang.
"We believe that the Haitian people, under the leadership of their government, will overcome difficulties and rebuild their homes at an early date with the help of the international community," said Jiang.
World Bank to provide additional emergency aid to Haiti
The World Bank said Wednesday it will provide an additional 100 million U.S. dollars in emergency grant funding to support recovery and reconstruction in Haiti in response to a magnitude-7.0 earthquake that caused extensive damage and casualties in the Caribbean nation on Tuesday.
"This is a shocking event and it is crucial that the international community supports the Haitian people at this critical time," a World Bank press release quoted bank group President Robert B. Zoellick as saying.
"The World Bank is mobilizing significant financial assistance and sending a team to help assess damage and reconstruction needs. Our thoughts are with the people of Haiti, our staff, and our UN colleagues," the release said.
The new 100-million-dollar emergency funding is subject to approval by the World Bank's Board of Directors, the release added.
In addition to new initiatives, the release said, the World Bank expects to utilize the capacity of existing projects, including those that focus on education and community-driven development, to provide assistance quickly and effectively.
The bank group is sending experts to work with the Haitian government and its international partners to assess needs and losses and plan for recovery and reconstruction. The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) has allocated 250,000 dollars for such assessment.
The World Bank said its private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), stands ready to work with the private sector on reconstruction and is contacting its clients in Haiti to identify ways it can work with them to play a role in the reconstruction effort.
The bank group said it also plans to provide seed resources to establish a multi-donor trust fund, the Haiti Reconstruction Fund, to mobilize international support for recovery and reconstruction process.
16 UN staffers confirmed dead in Haiti: UN Secretary-General Ban
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here Wednesday that 16 UN staffers were confirmed dead in Haiti in the wake of Tuesday's devastating earthquake.
The 16 include 11 Brazilians, one Argentine, three Jordanian police officers, and one Chadian officer, said Ban.
"Scale of catastrophe in Haiti is very high," says UN peacekeeping chief
The United Nations deals with humanitarian crises all the time but the devastating earthquake in Haiti has stricken especially close to home, said the head of UN peacekeeping forces Alain Le Roy here Wednesday.
With the number of fatalities among UN staff members rising, LeRoy said the emotion is "extremely high."
The UN has confirmed 10 staff members dead but the figure could end up being "the highest number of fatalities in the United Nations," said Le Roy.
At least 150 UN staff went missing, including the mission chief Hedi Annabi and his deputy special representative Luiz Carlos da Costa, after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks hit on Tuesday.
"This is one of the most horrible tragedies for a UN peacekeeping mission," said Le Roy. "We are receiving volunteers from other UN missions, who are offering their services."
Susana Malcorra, head of the Department of Field Support, told reporters that UN staff members are experiencing a "difficult moment."
The UN set up a hotline on Tuesday night to answer questions from family members of UN staff and also established counseling services in Haiti, she said.
"We are focused on making sure we can get people out (of the rubble) and getting them to have the right level of medical treatment ... but the tensions are there," she said.
A large number of buildings in the nation's capital, Port-au-Prince, have been destroyed with layers of floors pan caked on top of one another. The UN mission's headquarters at the Christopher Hotel, a five-story building built in the early 1960s, was also completely leveled and it is believed Annabi and Carlos da Costa are still under the rubble.
The UN has been quickly mobilizing its resources, sending experts and emergency supplies to the Caribbean nation. Communication lines are down and many roads are impassable but the airport remains virtually undamaged.
Read more about Haiti.
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