The death toll of a tanker truck explosion last Tuesday in Haiti rose to 90 dead, after the deaths over the weekend of a dozen people seriously injured during the disaster, said know Monday, December 20 Patrick Almonor, deputy mayor of Cap-Haitien, where the accident took place.
It’s about “Unfortunately still a partial figure” given the critical condition of some people hospitalized, he added. The previous report, made public on Wednesday by the Haitian authorities, reported 75 dead, 47 serious burns and 12 light burns.
On the night of December 13 to 14, the driver of the tanker would have tried to avoid a collision with a motorcycle-taxi, then losing control of his vehicle, which overturned, said Patrick Almonor a few hours after the drama. Following the accident, “Members of the civilian population took the opportunity to collect fuel by filling makeshift containers, which is the basis of a terrible explosion”, said Jerry Chandler, director of Haitian civil protection.
Fuel shortages
A week after the tragedy which mourns Cap-Haitien, a national funeral will be celebrated in the city’s cathedral on Tuesday morning. Only twenty-five coffins will be installed in the church; the majority of the victims, killed instantly, were quickly buried in a mass grave in Cap-Haitien, according to the details of Patrick Almonor.
Haiti, a poor country in the Caribbean, is plagued by recurring fuel shortages due to gang stranglehold on part of the fueling circuit. In recent months, the armed gangs have greatly increased their hold over Port-au-Prince, controlling the roads leading to the country’s three oil terminals, all located in the metropolitan area of the capital, more than 200 km away. south of Cap-Haitien.
In the fall, more than a dozen fuel transport vehicles were hijacked by the gangs, who demanded heavy ransoms for the drivers’ release, sparking strong anger among the population.