No Bulgarian citizens are reported to have been killed in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in Haiti, according to Dragovest Goranov, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokesperson. For the time being, there is also no information as to whether Bulgaria will send aid to the beleaguered Caribbean island.

Bulgaria does not have an embassy in Haiti. The closest diplomatic mission is in Cuba. From Havana, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has so far not received notification of any Bulgarians killed or injured in the quake, Dnevnik daily reported on January 13 2010.

Goranov did say, however, that it would take "some time" before Haiti authorities manage to assess the situation and the level of destruction. As the rescue operation in the island unfolds, more bodies will be retrieved and the death toll will inevitable mount. 

Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince suffered heavy damage from the powerful quake that measured 7.0 on the Richter scale. Scores of buildings collapsed and thousands are feared buried under the rubble. Already hundreds of residents are reported to have died across the island.

"My country is facing a major catastrophe," Haiti's ambassador to Washington, Raymond Alcide Joseph, was quoted as saying by CNN. Joseph said that given the vast destruction, the damage could run into billions of US dollars.

Among the buildings that collapsed and suffered extensive damage was the UN headquarters. A "large number" of UN personnel were reported missing by the organisation, the BBC said.

Karel Zelenka, a Catholic Relief Services representative in the capital of Port-au-Prince, told US colleagues before phone service failed that "there must be thousands of people dead," according to Sara Fajardo, a spokeswoman for the aid group.

Haiti's presidential palace and numerous other government buildings in the capital Port-au-Prince collapsed after the quake. A hospital was also flattened, with reports that patients were buried under the rubble.

Until now, the US, Venezuela, the UN's World Food Programme, the UK, Canada, Australia, France and a number of Latin American states have confirmed that they are dispatching personnel, sniffer dogs, equipment and resources to Haiti.