Tragic Accident January 17 2012 Haiti President Martelly Asking For Help

At least 29 people were killed and 56 injured after a truck's brakes failed on one of Port-au-Prince's busiest streets, a Haitian official said Tuesday.

Nadia Lochard of Haiti's Civil Protection Office said the accident happened on Route Delmas in the capital when the driver lost control of his dump truck shortly before midnight Monday The truck then crashed into a small bus before careening onto the sidewalk.

"It totally destroyed everything in its path," said Frederick Alexis, a freelance photographer who was on the scene and posted photos on Twitter and Facebook. "There were partially destroyed, mangled bodies everywhere."




Alexis said the truck, carrying gravel, was traveling down from Delmas 40B when it lost control and crashed in front of the Delimart supermarket.

"It got the BBQ chicken lady, the fritay vendors; motorcycles, cars," he told The Miami Herald.

President Michel Martelly rushed to the scene, as did Prime Minister Garry Conille, a doctor. He stayed until 2:30 a.m. before going to the State University Hospital, where some of the injured were taken. The accident occurred in front of the national television headquarters. The station broadcast the chaos for hours, during which Haitian National Police offices and Brazilian peacekeepers tried to save victims.

Doctors Without Borders, a nongovernmental medical organization, which treated some of the accident victims, said in a statement Tuesday "road accidents are now the primary source of patients in the emergency departments" of its hospitals, much more than violence.

"Each week, [Doctors Without Borders] receives an average of more than 300 road accidents in the three hospitals in Leogane, Martissant and Drouillard where teams of surgeons, anesthesiologists and emergency physicians are working at all times," it said.

Tragic Accident January 17 2012 Haiti President Martelly Asking For Help

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Tragic
• Accident
• January
• 17
• 2012
• Haiti
• President
• Martelly
• Asking
• For
• Help

[JDBbonbagay]

gade on peyi

[Haiti509Pages]

We are touched and sadden by this tragedy. In this particular case, the truck lost its brakes, and most likely not the fault of the driver. Nevertheless, we feel that speed limits in Haiti should be strongly enforced. In many areas, the streets are too narrow. For that reason, it is dangerous for pedestrians.