Brazilian Army confirmed on Wednesday the death of 12 Brazilians including the international coordinator of the Pastoral of the Child, Zilda Arns Neumann, and 11 officers belonging to the Force of Peace in Haiti due to the earthquake of 7.0 on the Richter scale that hit the country on Tuesday.

The army statement added that eight Brazilian soldiers have disappeared and nine were injured after the earthquake, two of them were seriously injured and have been sent to Dominican Republic.

Minister of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights (SEDH) Rogrio Sottili said there are reports that more than 17 Brazilians were killed in the earthquake that hit the capital of Haiti Port au Prince on Tuesday, in an interview with the official news agency from Brazil on Wednesday.

Unofficially, the Head of Social Communication of the Brazilian battalion in Haiti, Colonel Alan Sampaio Santos said that among Brazilian soldiers, seven people have died and many injured.

Brazilian military participating in the peacekeeping mission inHaiti have worked through the early hours of Wednesday in the rescue of comrades buried in collapsing buildings and assisting the local population and authorities of the country.