PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 21 (Reuters) – A small plane crashed on a busy street in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, killing at least six people, including the pilot, authorities said.
The plane took off from Port-au-Prince at 3:44 p.m. local time (7:44 p.m. GMT) bound for the city of Jacmel, on Haiti’s south coast, the Haitian civil aviation authority said, adding that the plane suffered engine failure and a distress call was made at 4:04 p.m.
“I want to express my sympathy to the families of the victims, who have been plunged into great suffering by this tragedy,” wrote Ariel Henry on Twitter without giving details.
Jude Edouard Pierre, the mayor of the commune of Carrefour – bordering Port-au-Prince – where the incident took place, said six people were killed. A government source said the pilot died after being taken to hospital.
Videos circulating on the WhatsApp app show the twisted wreckage of a plane in the middle of a road as well as what appear to be the bodies of victims. Reuters was unable to independently verify the source of these videos. (Report Ralph Tedy Erol Port-au-Prince and Gessika Thomas Istanbul, written by Brian Ellsworth Nassau; French version Camille Raynaud)