MANILA, January 12, 2010 (AFP) - Rescuers have retrieved "several bodies" as well as injured survivors after a massive quake toppled the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, a Filipino diplomat said Wednesday.
      
Elmer Cato, spokesman for the Philippine mission to the UN, told local television that the embassy was in touch with the UN authorities about the rescue efforts ongoing in Port-au-Prince after Tuesday's magnitude 7.0 quake.
      
"We were informed also that there have been several bodies recovered, but also several victims are still alive and subject to recovery efforts," Cato added.
      
He said the UN force advised the Filipino mission in New York that "some Filipino peacekeepers were trapped in the collapsed headquarters of the UN stabilisation force mission."
      
The rest of the Filipino peacekeepers were evacuated from their headquarters nearby, he added, and some are taking part in the rescue.
      
A large number of UN staffers are unaccounted for after a massive earthquake caused serious damage to their headquarters in Haiti, a senior UN official said at the UN headquarters late Tuesday.