The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) held a mourning ceremony Thursday afternoon for UN staff who perished in the January 12 earthquake.

Edmond Mulet, acting head of the mission, told Xinhua that 85 UN soldiers, civilian staffers and police officers had been confirmed dead so far. He also mourned the death of eight Chinese peacekeeping police and extended condolences to their families.

Mulet expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for sending a team to Haiti right after the quake to search for survivors and bodies at the MINUSTAH headquarters.

He said the Chinese team not only helped MINUSTAH find bodies, but offered tremendous help to locals.

Yang Tianyu, deputy head of the Chinese riot police in Haiti, wrote farewell words on the mourning placard to lament their dead comrades.

It reads, "Farewell to comrades, but peacekeeping spirit in Haiti lives on."

Of the eight victims, Zhong Jianqin, Zhao Huayu, He Zhihong, and Li Qin were with the Chinese riot police in Haiti, while the rest were in a team sent by China's Ministry of Public Security to Haiti for peacekeeping consultations.

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2010)