PORT AU PRINCE – The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Joseph Serge Miot, 63, was found dead in the ruins of his office, as bloodstained bodies of Haitians killed in the most powerful earthquake to hit the Caribbean area for 200 years, were being piled high in the streets of the devastated capital on Wednesday.

President Rene Préval estimates that thousands of persons may have been killed by the earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 when it hit this impoverished Caribbean country late on Tuesday.

One legislator, Youri Latorture told the international media that as many as half a million people could be dead, even as aid workers admitted that it would be difficult to give an estimate of the number of casualties.

The earthquake, which was followed by several aftershocks, reduced many buildings to rubble, and the bodies of those killed including children were piled next to schools in the capital.

U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said it was possible that the death toll “will be in the thousands.”

“Initial reports suggest a high number of casualties and, of course, widespread damage but I don’t have any figure that I can give you with any reliability of what the number of casualties will be,” Holmes said.

Rev. Pierre Le Beller of the Saint Jacques Missionary Center in France said the body of Archbishop Miot, was found in the ruins of his office.

“The cathedral, the archbishop’s office, all the big churches, the seminaries have been reduced to rubble,” Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the apostolic envoy to Haiti, told the Vatican news agency FIDES.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said many U.N. personnel were missing, including mission chief Hedi Annabi, who was in the building when the quake struck. Some 9,000 peacekeepers have been in Haiti since a 2004 rebellion ousted president, Jean Bertrand Aristide.

The U.N.’s 9,000 peacekeepers in Haiti, many of whom are from Brazil, have been searching for survivors in the ruins of their headquarters.

Brazil’s army said at least 11 of its peacekeepers were killed, while Jordan’s official news agency said three of its peacekeepers were killed. A state newspaper in China said eight Chinese peacekeepers were known dead and 10 were missing.

“It would appear that everyone who was in the building, including my friend Hedi Annabi, the United Nations’ secretary-general’s special envoy, and everyone with him and around him, are dead,” French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on radio.

Medical authorities have warned that survivors of the earthquake will face an increased risk of dengue fever, malaria and measles.

The regional and international community has responded quickly to the destruction with the United States, Canada, France, Cuba and China sending in various rescue teams and other personnel to Haiti.

President Barack Obama promised an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort, adding that the U.S. commitment to its hemispheric neighbor will be unwavering.

“We have to be there for them in their hour of need,” Obama said.

The 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping of which Haiti is a member, said it would coordinate its response after getting a clearer picture of what is required in Port au Prince.

“In the coming days and weeks, as the true picture of the destruction is revealed, we will be in a better position to say more on the type of assistance needed and where our resources could best be put to use,” CARICOM Chairman and Prime Minister Roosevelt Sherri of Dominica said in a statement.

The International Red Cross and other organizations said they were working feverishly to deal with an increasing number of persons injured by the quake. (CMC)

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