Rescue workers in Haiti find 61 bodies at the site of a fuel truck explosion

Written by Jessica Thomas and Brian Ellsworth

CAP HAITIEN, Haiti, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Rescue workers have found 61 bodies at the site of a fuel truck explosion in the city of Cap-Haitien, a Haitian fire official said on Wednesday, adding that the death toll had worsened. By residents who tried to open the car to collect fuel.

The explosion burned the facades of nearby houses and shops and destroyed cars and motorcycles on Monday night after the truck overturned, an accident that witnesses said resulted from the truck driver trying to avoid hitting a motorbike.

A Haitian radio station quoted a local official as putting the death toll in the city on the northern coast of Haiti at 75. But the official number, including those who died in the city’s main hospital, is not yet clear because doctors there have not yet completed it, he told Reuters.

Another official, Frandi Jean, chief of the Haitian Fire Brigade for the Northern District, said the search was complete at the site of the explosion.

Jin said the impact was exacerbated because residents were hoarding fuel in their homes and because some came close to the truck when it overturned, much to the desperation caused by a severe shortage of gasoline.

“The driver warned people not to approach the truck,” Jan said in an interview. “They didn’t listen. They were carrying their phones which they used (as flashlights), and some tried to pierce the tank with hammers.”

The tragedy sparked an emotional lament from Pope Francis https://www.reuters.com/world/poor-haiti-one-thing-after-another-pope-says-deadly-blast-2021-12-15 and a call to prayer for the state The Caribbean, which this year suffered a brutal wave of gang violence, a presidential assassination and a devastating earthquake.

Piero de Gaulle Augustin, an official in Haiti’s northern administration, was quoted by a local radio station as saying the number had reached 75.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ariel Henry visited the main hospital in Cap-Haitien to meet with the victims. He promised to release government funds in response to the tragedy, and said the dead man would be buried at a state funeral.

Wednesday was the first of three days of national mourning for the victims.

Haiti suffered from severe fuel shortages for nearly a month starting in October when a coalition of gangs blocked access to gas stations, forcing some businesses and hospitals to close partially or completely.

Gangs last month lifted the blockade https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/haiti-gangs-lift-fuel-terminal-blockade-amid-shortages-2021-11-12, but many Haitians say they are still struggling to find fuel.

The gangs have grown more powerful since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July, creating a political vacuum and allowing criminal groups to expand their territory.

Haiti was also hit by a devastating earthquake https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/magnitude-7-quake-strikes-western-haiti-usgs-2021-08-14 in August that killed more than 2,000 people and destroyed homes in near The southern island of the country. (Reporting by Jessica Thomas in Cap-Haitien and Brian Ellsworth in Caracas; Editing by Jonathan Otis)

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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