Haiti: At least 25 were killed after a fuel tanker exploded on a busy road in southern peninsula of Haiti on Saturday. According to reports of local media, many other people have been injured with severe burns.
Emergency teams are working to save the lives of the seriously injured and some of the critical patients have been transferred to hospital via helicopter for more advanced treatment, said the accident, the country’s Prime Minister Garry Conille who has visited the site, near the coastal city of Miragoane in the department of Nippes.
He has pledged that the Government will offer support for the victims and their families. “This is a horrible scene, what I have just witnessed,” he said in a statement.
According to media outlet Radio RFM, the incident took place around 7 a.m. local time, resulting in the death of 25 people.
Out of the 25 dead people, the identity of 16 is yet to be ascertained as there bodies have been charred completely thus rendering them unrecognizable, said authorities. Over 40 people have been admitted at the local hospital with several degress of burns.
According to the narration of the incident by a witness, people swarmed to the place to collect fuel after the truck’s gas tank was punctured by another vehicle.
After the blast, those near to the tanker got pulverized, and the others including some bystanders were also caught in the blast.