(Cap-Haitien) At least 62 people lost their lives during the night from Monday to Tuesday as a tanker truck that had just overturned exploded in Cap-Haitien, Haiti’s second city. Dozens of houses were set on fire, and many injured, among those who had rushed to recover the gasoline that was spilled around the truck, were sent to hospitals in the region, quickly overwhelmed.
“My heart is still beating at a hundred miles an hour,” Richcadet Joseph, 24, said in the early evening Tuesday on a stretcher outside between two buildings of the Justinien hospital. The university center, the second largest public hospital in the country, received the majority of the dozens of victims of the explosion. Many patients were placed in the courtyard of the hospital filled to capacity.
The professional tiler is covered with bandages from his feet to his chest under his sheets. He is also missing some skin on his chin.
“It went boom! and I fell to the ground, ”he continues, obviously still in pain.
PHOTO ETIENNE CÔTÉ-PALUCK, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Richcadet Joseph with his mother at Justinien Hospital
I drove to the canal to put out the fire, that’s when I realized my sandals were literally stuck to my feet, my jeans were burnt.
Richcadet Joseph
A few minutes earlier, a tanker had overturned in front of a construction products depot. It exploded soon after, instantly killing dozens of people gathered to retrieve the gasoline. Other victims were also still in bed in adjacent houses. Nearly twenty houses at least have been charred, as has been observed Press on the spot.
Lack of education
“My soul died last night,” says Célitha Joseph, owner of Nous Dépôt, a building materials company located in front of the scene of the tragedy. Tuesday, a few hours after the explosion of the truck carrying around 35,000 liters of fuel, she observed workers recovering bags of cement and other products that had remained in good condition in her building. One of its employees was killed, as were several of the local neighbors.
PHOTO ETIENNE CÔTÉ-PALUCK, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Metal recovery professionals are already working to recover aluminum from the truck.
“The people are in misery”, she specifies, in front of the carcass of the tanker still smoking. Several metal recovery professionals are already working to dismantle as much aluminum as possible from the truck to sell it. “Without poverty, there wouldn’t be this lack of education [sur la dangerosité d’un camion-citerne d’essence]. ”
Charred houses
“Some people treated us as fearful when we left our accommodation before the explosion,” recalls Binou Similien, 23, who lives in front of the depot and the burnt truck. “You see how even the paint has lifted,” she said, pointing to the facade of her building behind. “But it is in the corridor opposite that there are the most victims. ”
PHOTO ETIENNE CÔTÉ-PALUCK, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Binou Similien lives very close to the scene of the tragedy.
To the left of the construction depot, whose concrete facade is completely blackened, a tiny corridor gives access to a group of small houses. It appears that much of the explosion was concentrated in the corridor before reaching the houses behind the depot, up to nearly 100 meters away. Many, already in bed, would have died instantly.
“They were roasted,” explains Johnny Joseph, 33, when we talk about the fate of his neighbors in this corridor. Pain and fatigue could still be seen on his face. Her home was barely saved after a night of watering it with buckets with the help of a dozen locals.
I have lost four very good friends. And a lot of neighbors.
Johnny joseph
“There was even a baby there,” he said, pointing to a house a few dozen meters away, near the incident. “Scorched,” he adds after a pause, visibly still in shock.
Due to extreme burns, several of the dead victims could not be identified on Tuesday, according to the deputy mayor of Cap-Haitien.
PHOTO ETIENNE CÔTÉ-PALUCK, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Célitha Joseph, owner of Nous Dépôt, a building materials company located in front of the site where the tragedy occurred
“It’s a management problem,” says Célitha Joseph, owner of the depot. She points to the poor functioning of the state, while problems with the supply of gasoline have affected the region since June. Haiti is in the grip of a severe shortage of fuel due to the seizure of armed groups on part of the supply circuit.
“A lot of people died for nothing,” laments Mr.me Joseph. That hurts me. It is the soul of the country that is torn apart. ”
State of emergency declared
Later that day on Tuesday, some of the more seriously ill people were repatriated by helicopter to Port-au-Prince. Emergency resources intended for victims of the August 14 earthquake in southern Haiti were also channeled by the government to the north of the country.
The interim prime minister visited the scene on Tuesday. He declared a state of emergency and mourning across the country, expressing his pain at the critical condition of some of the burn victims he encountered. He also announced the deployment of field hospitals “to provide necessary care to the victims of this terrible explosion”.
Gasoline, a rare commodity
In recent months, armed gangs have greatly increased their hold over Port-au-Prince, controlling the roads leading to the country’s three oil terminals. More than a dozen fuel transport vehicles were hijacked by criminal groups who demanded heavy ransoms for the drivers’ release. What arouses a strong discontent within the population; Haiti was also the scene, Monday, of demonstrations against the increase in gasoline prices. On September 25, a fire had also burned about 180 motorcycles and a car gathered in one of the few service stations that then offered gasoline in Cap-Haitien. Since October, telecommunications networks and the media have also reduced their activities across the country, being unable to find fuel for the thermal generators that supply the antennas with electricity. This energy crisis is also hampering the functioning of the few hospital structures across the country.
With Agence France-Presse