 Although later prematurely confirmed dead by President René Préval, he was still reported as missing until 16 January 2010.On 16 January 2010, Annabi was confirmed by the UN Mission in Haiti to have died, after his body was recovered from the rubble of buildings in Port-au-Prince.In confirming 22 UN peacekeepers dead from the collapse, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, that he was “deeply saddened” to confirm the deaths of his Special Representative to Haiti, Hédi Annabi, as well as his Deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa and Acting Police Commissioner Doug Coates of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.