Canadians from various Canadian Police forces have reported 2 still missing from a total of 84. The first 72 hours are considered the most urgent for finding survivors in the rubble. I say a prayer for these 2 brave Canadians. One Canadian Nurse has been identified as a fatality and one former MP who had arrived in Port au Prince only hours before the quake is still missing.
Two RCMP officers in Haiti as part of a UN training mission remain unaccounted for after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the capital Port-au-Prince early Tuesday evening.
The two missing officers have been identified as Supt. Doug Coates, acting commissioner of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (known as MINUSTAH), and Sgt. Mark Gallagher.
Eighty-two Canadian officers from forces across the country are in Haiti as part of the UN mission to train and mentor the national police force.
Gallagher's wife, Lisa, told The Canadian Press she last spoke to her husband as he was heading to bed, about 30 minutes before the earthquake struck. She has not heard from him since.
According to Gallagher, her husband was based at the UN compound in Port-au-Prince and lived in a two-storey apartment building with at least one other RCMP officer.
Gallagher said her husband had just returned to Haiti Tuesday after a three-week holiday at their home over Christmas.
Montreal police confirmed earlier Wednesday that all 42 of the force's officers who are part of the mission are safe. Quebec provincial police also confirmed Wednesday that the force has more than 20 officers attached to the mission, and they are all accounted for.
Three officers with Ottawa police are also safe.
RCMP Sgt. Julie Gagnon told CTV News Channel Wednesday morning that there are 13 RCMP officers in Haiti as part of the mission.
Contact is very difficult at this point as you can appreciate, Gagnon said. All efforts are being made to make sure that every police officer from all the Canadian forces are safe and sound.
Since 1993, about 1,000 Canadian police officers have served with UN missions in Haiti, according to the RCMP.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Canada has 82 police officers, seven correctional officers and five Canadian Forces members as part of the peacekeeping force. Two of the Canadian police officers remain unaccounted for, Cannon said.
At least 15 peacekeepers have been reported killed.
Brazil's army said at least four Brazilian soldiers were killed and five injured, while Jordan's official news agency said three of its peacekeepers were killed and 21 injured. A state newspaper in China said eight Chinese peacekeepers were known to have died and 10 have been reported missing.
The loss of UN forces is an added blow to aid efforts in Haiti.
HMCS Halifax and HMCS Athabaskan are loading relief supplies and will be at sea very quickly . They are currently loading vital relief supplies in Halifax Harbour.The first Herc with advance DART Staff was deployed Wed. This will facilitate communications and advice on required medical staff and supplies. As Airmen, Soldiers , Sailors and Canadians from many aid groups rush to aid Haiti and the Haitian people. We wish them God Speed and safe passage. Canadians assisting the Global Village.
Canadian nurse Yvonne Martin, right, is seen in a photo taken during a medical mission to Haiti in 2009. An Ontario nurse was killed in the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti Tuesday evening, while a former MP from Quebec is missing.Yvonne Martin, from Elmira, Ont. was among a group of seven nurses who arrived in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince around 4:30 Tuesday afternoon.
The nurses, who are all from southern Ontario, arrived about 90 minutes before the earthquake hit, Lou Geense, of the Emmanuel Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada, told CTV's Michael Melling.
They were to set up a number of mobile health clinics in poor, rural areas, Geense said.
When the quake hit, the guest house the nurses were staying at collapsed, trapping Martin.
Remember Everyone Deployed.
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
