Hedi Annabi, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), briefs the members of the press following a Security Council meeting on the situation in Haiti on April 6, 2009, at the United Nations, New York. [Photo: CFP]

At least 16 United Nations personnel were confirmed killed and about 150 remain unaccounted for, including the UN mission chief and special representative of the UN secretary general Hedi Annabi and his deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa, said UN sources.

The past years have seen the death of UN staffers and peacekeepers in violent terror attacks and accidents around the world.

On Aug. 19, 2003, a deadly car bomb hit the UN headquarters in Iraq, killing 17 UN staffers, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN special representative for Iraq, and Christopher Klein-Beekman, the program coordinator for the United Nations' Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Iraq.

In that year, 93 UN peacekeepers lost their lives in peacekeeping missions, including Chinese engineer Fu Qingli, who died in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2005, 32 UN civilian staffers died on duty and 124 peacekeepers lost their lives in the missions.

At least 22 UN staffers and 107 peacekeepers died on duty in 2006. The death toll in 2007 was 42, with nine peacekeepers and 33 civilian staffers. In 2008 the death rose to 166, including 34 staffers and 132 peacekeepers.

Last year, 35 UN personnel were killed in violent attacks, including 28 civilian staffers and seven peacekeepers.