Irish UN worker was in levelled HQ

ANDREW GRENE, the UN worker with dual Irish and US citizenship, was in a meeting at the UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince that collapsed in the quake.

A policy analyst advising its Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Mr Grene was in the building when it was levelled by the devastating earthquake.

The senior UN official was understood to be attending a meeting with the head of the UN’s MINUSTAH mission, Hedi Annabi, in the former Christopher Hotel, when the quake struck.

Mr Annabi has already been confirmed dead, along with his deputy, Brazilian Luiz Carlos da Costa. The acting UN police commissioner in Haiti, Canadian Doug Coates, also died.

Mr Annabi is the first UN mission chief to die in the line of duty since Sergio Vieira de Mello of Brazil was killed along with 14 other UN staff when a truck bomb exploded in Baghdad in 2003.

Mr Grene’s mother comes from Co Cavan and he grew up in America.

His name is on a list of several people who have not been accounted for.

Mr Grene’s twin brother, Gregory, has posted Andrew’s photograph online in a desperate effort to find out whether he is alive or dead.

The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed last night that it is liaising with US officials as the international search and rescue operation continues.

The official UN death toll in Haiti stands at 37 but officials expect it will rise to well over 100.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was due to arrive in the stricken state last night. The World Health Organisation is estimating between 40,000 and 50,000 people have been killed in the earthquake.