The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) will set up a committee to help restore the Haitian cultural heritage damaged in a devastating earthquake in the Caribbean nation.

Unesco director-general Irina Bukova said this at the end of her two-day visit to Haiti Wednesday.

Bukova said the Haitian cultural heritage is in danger due to vandalism, pillage and trafficking of artworks in the wake of the quake and her organisation will work hard to protect them.

The Jan 12 quake damaged several Haitian heritage sites such as the National Palace and Port-au-Prince Cathedral. It also damaged the Nader Gallery where Naif Art collections were kept.

About 400 oil paintings were retrieved and many paintings were lost from the rubbles of the collapsed walls of the gallery, Prensa Latina reported.