New Delhi: At least 50 people were killed and dozens injured when a gas tanker exploded in the Haitian city of Cap-Haitian on Tuesday morning, the AP reported. Dozens of bodies lay on the road hours after the explosion.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry tweeted, “Three days of national mourning will be announced across the region in memory of the victims of this tragedy that the entire Haitian nation is in mourning.”
Former Prime Minister Claude Joseph also condoled the victims, tweeting, “I share the pain and sorrow of all.”
Cap-Haitian deputy mayor Patrick Almoner told The Associated Press that the explosion killed at least 53 people and injured more than 100. Around 20 houses were burnt near the spot.
Almonor said the death toll would rise because the number of people who died in homes had not yet been counted. “What happened is terrible. We have lost many lives,” he said.
Almonor said the truck driver appeared to have lost control as he turned to avoid the motorcycle and the tanker overturned.
When the injured were rushed to the hospital, the local hospital was packed with patients. “We don’t have the capacity to treat the number of people with severe burns,” a nurse told AFP. “I’m afraid we won’t be able to save them all,” she said.
Dave Larrose, a civil engineer who works in Cap-Haitien, told the AP that he was driving when he saw an ambulance and a crowd of people gathered on the street around 1 a.m.
He said some people were using trucks and buckets to get gasoline off the road amid a severe fuel shortage and rising gas prices in Haiti.
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