Hundreds of people were feared dead in Haiti in the wake of a devastating earthquake that led to the collapse of the UN headquarters building in the capital Port-au-Prince, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday.

"We have yet to establish a number of dead or injured, which we feel may well be in the hundreds," Ban told reporters.

The head of the UN mission in Haiti, Hedi Annabi, was among the missing people, but Ban said he could not confirm reports that Annabi had died.

"Information on the full extent of the damage is still scanty," Ban told reporters. "We are facing a major emergency and a major relief effort will be required."

He said basic services such as water, electricity, have collapsed almost entirely on the Caribbean island nation.

Helen Clark, administrator of the UN Development Program (UNDP), told reporters that there are 38 UNDP staff unaccounted for in Haiti after the strong earthquake struck on Tuesday.

Alain Le Roy, UN under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, said that about 10 people have been pulled out of the rubble, many badly injured and "less than five" had been confirmed dead.

"More than 10 people have been extracted from the building, some dead, some alive," Le Roy said.

Le Roy said that the airport in the capital of Haiti was operational at the moment.

Ban said that he was sending Edmond Mulet, the deputy head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the predecessor of Annabi, to Haiti.

Ban said that he plans to visit Haiti as conditions permit. At the moment, he was at UN Headquarters in New York "to save lives" by coordinating and commanding relief operations with major countries and the international community.

Ban said that he contacted major countries, including the United States, and the international community to engage relief operations in Haiti, where the communication system broke down and only "limited channels" were available to connect with the outside world.

He was scheduled to discuss what more can be done for Haiti with his special envoy, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, on morning, Ban said.

John Holmes, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and coordinator of emergency relief operations, said that his office would soon launch a major appeal for funds and had already released US$10 million in emergency aid.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2010)