A Dutch military airplane carrying 106 Haitian orphans selected for adoption has taken off from Port-au-Prince airport. The plane is expected to land at Eindhoven Airport in the south of the Netherlands later on Thursday.

After last week's earthquake Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin waived immigration procedures for the children which could have taken years. Adoptive parents for the children were found earlier and the adoptions were agreed with the Haitian authorities.

Fourteen of the children are still looking for new parents; they will go into temporary care with host families.

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide