The Archbishop of Port-au-Prince is among those killed in the huge earthquake that devastated the city, the Missionary International Service News Agency (MISNA) reported in Rome today.

"The body of Monsignor Serge Miot ... was pulled from the rubble of his offices in Port-au-Prince," MISNA said, quoting missionaries from the Saint Jacques Society.

MISNA also reported that the vicar general, Charles Benoit, is missing following last night's 7.0-magnitude quake in mainly-Catholic Haiti.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for a massive relief effort, with buildings ruined and hundreds feared dead in the disaster.

The country's President survived the earthquake, although his palace collapsed. He said the number of dead runs into thousands.

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