Soldiers from the 10th Philippine peacekeeping contingent to Haiti were among those trapped in one of the buildings in Port-Au-Prince which was hit by a magnitude 7 earthquake early Tuesday morning, the military said.

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., Armed Forces spokesman, said the information was transmitted to Camp Aguinaldo by the AFP Peacekeeping Operations Center based in Camp O'Donnell, Tarlac, which received a phone call from the wife of Lt. Col. Lope Dagoy, commander of the contingent to Haiti.

Brawner said at around 8:40 a.m. Wednesday, Dagoy’s wife called the center and relayed that her husband had called her using a satellite phone, saying that “some of his troops are trapped somewhere but did not give specific details.”

“He (Dagoy) mentioned though that Filipino contingents living in the main building of the Philippine company (PHILCOY) headquarters were evacuated due to continuous tremors.”

The Philippine contingent is reportedly quartered in a building right across the street where the UN Headquarters is located. The UN headquarters, reports said, was reduced to rubble.

Brawner said the AFP is exerting efforts to account for all Filipinos troops in Haiti, even as he expressed hope that those who remain unaccounted for are safe.

The contingent led by Dagoy left the country August last year for their six-month peacekeeping mission. They are expected to return to the country in February.

The AFP spokesman said they were also given assurance by the UN headquarters in New York “that they are trying their best to account for all our personnel.”

Brawner also emphasized that majority of the Filipino contingent living in the main building of the Philippine company headquarters were already evacuated.

“Right now our Filipino contingent in Haiti is helping in the recovery and rescue of those who were trapped, not only the Filipinos who were trapped in Haiti but including the other locals and the other nationals in the area.”

“We are hopeful na buhay silang lahat,” he added.