CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti:Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry on Tuesday met with victims of a fuel truck explosion that killed at least 60 people during the night in Cap-Haitien, the country’s second-largest city.
Hundreds of people on Tuesday afternoon remained at the scene of the blast, including shocked residents looking for neighbors or loved ones as well as people attempting to dismantle the charred remains of the truck for scrap metal.
The truck flipped over as it was seeking to avoid running over a motorcycle, said 64-year-old Justorme Louis Fils, who lives near the scene of the explosion. He said the explosion engulfed nearby homes, which remain blackened.
“I am very concerned about the number of people who died,” Louis Fils, 64, said on Tuesday afternoon. “I can identify some of the houses of people I know, but I can’t identify them among the victims.”
Health ministry official Laure Adrien said that 60 deaths had been confirmed so far, but the exact death toll was still not known.
Earlier, rescue workers loaded bodies covered in white sheets onto trucks to be taken away. The blast damaged the facades of nearby houses and shops, and destroyed motorbikes and cars.
“We are sad that so many people got hurt and so many people died,” Henry said during a news conference at the Cap-Haitien airport after visiting the Justinien University Hospital, where most of the victims are being treated.
He said the government will release emergency funds, without specifying the amount, and will organize an official state funeral for the victims.
Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste quoted Patrick Almonor of the Cap-Haitien municipal commission as saying, “Local residents were flocking to the truck when the explosion occurred.”
A coalition of gangs blockaded fuel terminals for nearly a month starting in October, leading to widespread shortages of gasoline and diesel that forced many businesses to close.
Fuel deliveries resumed last month, but many Haitians remain concerned that supplies could be interrupted again. The government last week announced a fuel price hike due to the expense of existing subsidies.
Gangs have grown more powerful https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/gangs-expand-territory-haiti-government-struggles-stay-control-2021-10-17 since the July assassination of President Jovenel Moise, which created a political vacuum and allowed criminal groups to expand their territory.
Haiti also suffered a devastating earthquake in August that killed more than 2,000 people and destroyed homes in the country’s southern peninsula, bringing back memories of a massive 2010 tremor that killed more than 200,000 people.
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