The Hague--"The aim is that the children come as quickly as possible to The Netherlands," foreign ministry spokeswoman Ozlem Canel told AFP.

The children were aged from a few months to seven years, the justice ministry said.

The adoption process, which could normally take several years, was being speeded up after the earthquake nearly a week ago that killed tens of thousands of people and left many more homeless, officials said.

About 30 people, including doctors, nurses, psychologists and immigration officials, were on the plane that left Amsterdam around noon, Canel said.

The Haitian authorities have given their agreement for the children to leave, justice officials said.

The children had not been hurt in the quake, De Nederlandse Adoptie Stichting adoption agency told AFP.

Nine children who did not yet have an adoptive family in The Netherlands would also be brought back and would stay with a host family until they were adopted, it added.

Six Haitian children adopted by Dutch families arrived in the southern town of Eindhoven on Sunday on a Dutch military aircraft, the foreign ministry said.

AFP/ Expatica