50 killed in Haiti gas tanker explosion
14 December 2021, 10:01 pm | Updated: 22 November 2024, 02:19 am
At least 50 people were killed in gas tanker exploded in the Haitian city of Cap-Haitien on Tuesday morning.
according to a local official, with overwhelmed local medics saying the toll was feared to rise. "I saw on the scene between 50 and 54 people burned alive," Deputy Mayor Patrick Almonor said. "It is impossible to identify them."
Almonor also said "about 20" houses in the area were set ablaze by the explosion. "We can't yet give details on the number of victims inside the houses," he said.
Nearby Justinien University Hospital was overwhelmed with patients as the injured were transported to the facility. "We don't have the ability to treat the number of seriously burned people," a nurse told AFP.
"I'm afraid we won't be able to save them all," she said.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry said the explosion left "around 40 people" dead and dozens injured, as he decreed a period of national mourning.
"I learned with sadness and emotion the terrible news of the explosion of a gas tanker last night in Cap-Haitien," he tweeted.
