The defense minister said Wednesday that the cost of Spain's military aid mission to Haiti would be 18.8 million euros (US$26 million).

A Spanish tactical unit of 450 members arrived on the earthquake stricken island February 4 aboard the naval vessel ‘Castilla.'.

"They will be there for a maximum of three months, until May 4, although this period could be extended is circumstances make it necessary," Defense Minister Carme Chacon told the Spanish Congreso de Diputados.

The unit is based in Petit Goave, a coastal town of 50,000 people 70 kilometers from the capital of Puert-Au-Prince.

Chacon said there have been more than 500 deaths and more than 2,500 people injured in Petit Goave and that half of the population had lost their homes in the earthquake.

Spanish military doctors have already treated more than 350 patients, while engineers have cleared 200 tones of rubble from an area of 3,000 square meters.

(Xinhua News Agency February 11, 2010)