Indian Consul General in quake-hit Haiti safe

I / Washington January 14, 2010, 11:24 IST

India's Consul General in Haiti Marie Andrine is safe following the devastating earthquake there but there is no information yet on the 60-100 Indian civilians living in the country.

Indian Ambassador to Cuba Mitra Vasisht, who is also the Ambassador to Haiti and Dominican Republic said Indian Embassy in Havana managed to speak to one of the close relatives of Andrine, who confirmed the Consul General is safe.

Due to the collapse of the communication lines in the 7.0 tremor, the Consul General could not herself be contacted.

However, no information is yet available on the condition of other Indians living in Haiti, as the communication system has been devastated.

"We have been trying to get information whole day and would continue throughout the night," Mitra told PTI over phone from Havana.

All the 141 Indian police peacekeepers from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), based in the Haitian capital Port-Au-Prince, which was worst hit, are however safe. Besides them there are about 60-100 others like businessmen and engineers, who are yet to be contacted.

Mitra would be leaving Havana for Dominican Republic today from where she would try and get into Haiti to have a first hand assessment of the situation in the country.

Due to damage caused to the airport, Dominican Republic, which shares it border with Haiti, is the best way to reach the devastated country.

"I am personally going to Dominican Republic, which is the closet where I can personally go, to Haiti. Right now there is total breakdown of infrastructure and communication in Haiti," Mitra said.