At least 37 UN staffers are confirmed dead in the deadly earthquake in Haiti, and some 330are still unaccounted for, a UN spokesman said Friday.

Martin Nesirky told reporters here that among the confirmed dead, one was a civilian staff from the World Food Program (WFP) working in Haiti and another 36, already confirmed on Thursday, were UN peacekeepers in the small island country.

Earlier, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon told reporters here that up to 50 percent of the buildings in Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti, and other areas hit by the strong earthquake on Tuesday were damaged or destroyed.

(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2009)