14 Nov 2008 01:25:47 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Joseph Guyler Delva
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Nov 13 (Reuters) - An unemployed man who risked life and limb to pull children from the rubble of a collapsed school was celebrated as a national hero on Thursday by the impoverished Caribbean nation's president.
More than 90 people were killed in the disaster involving the La Promesse school, a ramshackle three-story building that collapsed in a slum on the outskirts of the Haitian capital.
Ronaldo Charilus, 29, said he rushed to the structure soon after it caved in last Friday.
"When I arrived on the site, I prayed and said to myself my life was not mine anymore. I left it in God's hands," Charilus told Reuters. "And from that moment on, I stopped thinking about my life but about the innocent children's lives."
Charilus, dubbed "Ronaldo the Hero" by the Haitian media, saved the lives of several dozen children trapped under the debris while putting his own life in almost constant danger, according to numerous eyewitness reports.
President Rene Preval, who visited the disaster site several times, told an awards ceremony at the National Palace on Thursday that Charilus was tireless in his efforts.
"The young man was all over the place. He worked with so much energy that he grabbed my attention," Preval said.
Though his dogged efforts continued day and night for several days running, Preval noted that Charilus was officially unemployed like so many other people in the poorest nation in the hemisphere.
"When I asked Ronaldo if he had slept, he replied to me by saying, 'Mr. President I can't sleep and I will never be able to sleep as long as I know there are people still trapped under the rubble,'" said Preval.
Several other rescue workers also were recognized for their service at the ceremony, but Charilus was clearly the star.
"He crawled like a snake through the rubble and squeezed himself into holes from which he was not sure whether he would be able to come out," said Gael Pinson, who worked alongside Charilus at the school site.
The school disaster, blamed on shoddy construction, struck as Haiti was struggling to recover from four tropical storms and hurricanes that killed more than 800 people and destroyed 60 percent of the nation's crops in August and September.
Charilus, the father of a 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, said he acted as if his own children had been caught up in the tragedy.
"You know there is nothing a loving and responsible father won't do to save his children in immediate danger," he said. (Editing by Tom Brown and Vicki Allen)
Showing posts with label School tragedy news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School tragedy news. Show all posts
Friday, November 14, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Second school collapse hits Haiti
At least nine people were injured when a school building partially collapsed in Haiti - days after a similar incident killed more than 90 people.
Officials said most of the students were out in the playground when the collapse happened at the private school in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
A witness said the cave-in left chunks of wall scattered on the ground.
The accident comes less than a week after the deadly collapse at La Promesse College in Petionville.
Rescuers have now ended a search for survivors at that site.
Crews have cleared the wreckage, uncovering the remains of those trapped inside.
'No cement'
The second collapse occurred at the Grace Divine school, in the Canape Vert part of the capital.
The concrete roof was sagging and there were clear cracks in the remaining walls, AFP news agency reported.
Two students were taken to hospital with serious injuries while another seven had minor injuries, an official told the Associated Press news agency.
Haitian authorities have blamed the collapse of the Petionville school on poor construction - and indicated that the second one could have the same cause.
"It is the same kind of construction we have seen in Nerettes [in Petionville]," said Eucher Luc Joseph, secretary of state for public safety.
"It is construction with practically no cement, no iron. It has been built in total violation of regulations."
The owner of the Petionville school has been arrested.
Officials said most of the students were out in the playground when the collapse happened at the private school in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
A witness said the cave-in left chunks of wall scattered on the ground.
The accident comes less than a week after the deadly collapse at La Promesse College in Petionville.
Rescuers have now ended a search for survivors at that site.
Crews have cleared the wreckage, uncovering the remains of those trapped inside.
'No cement'
The second collapse occurred at the Grace Divine school, in the Canape Vert part of the capital.
The concrete roof was sagging and there were clear cracks in the remaining walls, AFP news agency reported.
Two students were taken to hospital with serious injuries while another seven had minor injuries, an official told the Associated Press news agency.
Haitian authorities have blamed the collapse of the Petionville school on poor construction - and indicated that the second one could have the same cause.
"It is the same kind of construction we have seen in Nerettes [in Petionville]," said Eucher Luc Joseph, secretary of state for public safety.
"It is construction with practically no cement, no iron. It has been built in total violation of regulations."
The owner of the Petionville school has been arrested.
Haiti-Ecole
Une nouvelle école, La Grâce Divine, s’effondre partiellement à Port-au-Prince : 8 blessés, dont 3 graves
D’autres élèves blessés dans la panique provoquée par des rumeurs relatives à l’effondrement d’un 3ème établissement scolaire
mercredi 12 novembre 2008,
Radio Kiskeya
Une nouvelle école, La Grâce Divine, s’est partiellement effondrée mercredi matin a Port-au-Prince, plus précisément dans le quartier de Canapé Vert (Est de la capitale), non loin de la résidence privée du chef de l’Etat, René Préval.
Sept élèves et un adulte ont été blessés dans l’accident provoqué vraisemblablement par un glissement de terrain, selon le ministre des Travaux publics, Jacques Gabriel, arrivé sur place. Trois des élèves blessés le sont grièvement.
D’autres officiels du gouvernement, tels le ministre de l’Education nationale, Joël Desrosiers Jean Pierre et son collègue de la Jeunesse et des Sports, Evans Lescouflair, se trouvaient également sur les lieux. Au moins deux parlementaires, le sénateur Youri Latortue et le député Frantz Robert Mondé s’étaient également transportés sur le site de de l’accident
L’édifice logeant La Grâce Divine, située à un endroit inaccessible au cœur d’un vaste bidonville, était encore en construction.
Alors que les autorités dressaient le constat de l’accident, une rumeur a circulé sur l’effondrement au même moment d’une autre école dans le quartier de Christ Roi, le Collège Saint-François d’Assise. Ce fut alors la panique, les gens, la police et les équipes de secours se ruant précipitamment vers le lieu du nouveau drame. Mais, il ne s’agissait pas effectivement d’un nouvel effondrement, mais plutôt d’un vent de panique ayant suivi une rumeur relative au vacillement de l’édifice après une légère secousse sismique. Moins d’une dizaine d’élèves ont été blessés en se précipitant vers la sortie de l’établissement.’
L’accident du Canapé Vert survient 5 jours après l’effondrement à Nérette (Pétion Ville, Est de Port-au-Prince) du Collège évangélique La Promesse. Le bilan de cet accident est de 89 morts et plus de 150 blessés, en majorité des élèves. [jmd/RK]
D’autres élèves blessés dans la panique provoquée par des rumeurs relatives à l’effondrement d’un 3ème établissement scolaire
mercredi 12 novembre 2008,
Radio Kiskeya
Une nouvelle école, La Grâce Divine, s’est partiellement effondrée mercredi matin a Port-au-Prince, plus précisément dans le quartier de Canapé Vert (Est de la capitale), non loin de la résidence privée du chef de l’Etat, René Préval.
Sept élèves et un adulte ont été blessés dans l’accident provoqué vraisemblablement par un glissement de terrain, selon le ministre des Travaux publics, Jacques Gabriel, arrivé sur place. Trois des élèves blessés le sont grièvement.
D’autres officiels du gouvernement, tels le ministre de l’Education nationale, Joël Desrosiers Jean Pierre et son collègue de la Jeunesse et des Sports, Evans Lescouflair, se trouvaient également sur les lieux. Au moins deux parlementaires, le sénateur Youri Latortue et le député Frantz Robert Mondé s’étaient également transportés sur le site de de l’accident
L’édifice logeant La Grâce Divine, située à un endroit inaccessible au cœur d’un vaste bidonville, était encore en construction.
Alors que les autorités dressaient le constat de l’accident, une rumeur a circulé sur l’effondrement au même moment d’une autre école dans le quartier de Christ Roi, le Collège Saint-François d’Assise. Ce fut alors la panique, les gens, la police et les équipes de secours se ruant précipitamment vers le lieu du nouveau drame. Mais, il ne s’agissait pas effectivement d’un nouvel effondrement, mais plutôt d’un vent de panique ayant suivi une rumeur relative au vacillement de l’édifice après une légère secousse sismique. Moins d’une dizaine d’élèves ont été blessés en se précipitant vers la sortie de l’établissement.’
L’accident du Canapé Vert survient 5 jours après l’effondrement à Nérette (Pétion Ville, Est de Port-au-Prince) du Collège évangélique La Promesse. Le bilan de cet accident est de 89 morts et plus de 150 blessés, en majorité des élèves. [jmd/RK]
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
No signs of life in Haiti school collapse: rescuers
PETION-VILLE, Haiti (AFP) — Rescue workers said they have found "no sign of life" in the rubble of a Haitian school that collapsed last week killing at least 93 people, and recommended that search efforts turn to body recovery.
"We have inspected the rubble with cameras and dogs. We have unfortunately found no sign of life," French medic Daniel Vigier told reporters, saying that the rubble should now be cleared in order to remove the bodies.
"We will take every precaution possible" in order to protect any remaining survivors, Vigier said, noting however that the likelihood of finding anyone alive at this point was "very slim."
So far only four children have been found alive at the school, La Promesse, in Petion-ville, on the outskirts of the capital Port-au-Prince. The three-storey building collapsed on Friday morning.
"We have checked every possible void space and opening that we can get through and I believe ... we have done everything we can to try to assure that there are no people in there alive," said USAID rescue team member Mike Istvan.
The death toll was expected to rise, as about 250-300 people were believed to have been inside when the structure crumbled.
Although 700 students aged three to 20 attended, the school operated in two sessions and so about half that number would have been in the building at the time of collapse, Youth and Sports Minister Evans Lescouflair said.
One teacher who had left the building minutes before it came crashing down told the minister that "a maximum of between 250 to 300 pupils were inside," Lescouflair said.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the collapse and suggested that criminal prosecution could follow. The owner of the school was questioned by police after turning himself in Sunday.
Officials also pledged an investigation into the construction of the school and a survey of other education establishments that might be at possible risk.
"This construction did not meet normal standards. We are going to ask the minister of education to make an inspection of all the schools built in the same way," senator Yvon Bissereth said.
Justice Minister Jean-Joseph Exume lamented the deadly collapse, saying the building never should have held so many.
"It's a real calamity. This building was not suitable for a school," Exume said during a visit to the scene.
Early Monday, a security cordon encircled the area, while workers continued round-the-clock efforts to unearth dozens of bodies believed entombed beneath mounds of metal and concrete.
Teams from the United Nations, the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Haitian police and rescuers from France, the United States and Canada have been scouring the rubble since the school collapsed.
UN engineers and soldiers from the UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) have worked to remove heavy pieces of concrete and to contain the large crowds of people.
He said a camera was being used to peer into the pile of rubble and search teams were now clearing away roofing.
Officials have said that the school's head and owner, Pastor Augustin Fortain, was being questioned but so far "has not been formally charged with anything."
At the time of the collapse, builders had been adding a new floor to the school. Witnesses told AFP that Fortain had constructed the building without the help of engineers.
France has offered emergency aid amounting to 20,000 euros (25,000 dollars) to help build a new school in the area.
"We have inspected the rubble with cameras and dogs. We have unfortunately found no sign of life," French medic Daniel Vigier told reporters, saying that the rubble should now be cleared in order to remove the bodies.
"We will take every precaution possible" in order to protect any remaining survivors, Vigier said, noting however that the likelihood of finding anyone alive at this point was "very slim."
So far only four children have been found alive at the school, La Promesse, in Petion-ville, on the outskirts of the capital Port-au-Prince. The three-storey building collapsed on Friday morning.
"We have checked every possible void space and opening that we can get through and I believe ... we have done everything we can to try to assure that there are no people in there alive," said USAID rescue team member Mike Istvan.
The death toll was expected to rise, as about 250-300 people were believed to have been inside when the structure crumbled.
Although 700 students aged three to 20 attended, the school operated in two sessions and so about half that number would have been in the building at the time of collapse, Youth and Sports Minister Evans Lescouflair said.
One teacher who had left the building minutes before it came crashing down told the minister that "a maximum of between 250 to 300 pupils were inside," Lescouflair said.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the collapse and suggested that criminal prosecution could follow. The owner of the school was questioned by police after turning himself in Sunday.
Officials also pledged an investigation into the construction of the school and a survey of other education establishments that might be at possible risk.
"This construction did not meet normal standards. We are going to ask the minister of education to make an inspection of all the schools built in the same way," senator Yvon Bissereth said.
Justice Minister Jean-Joseph Exume lamented the deadly collapse, saying the building never should have held so many.
"It's a real calamity. This building was not suitable for a school," Exume said during a visit to the scene.
Early Monday, a security cordon encircled the area, while workers continued round-the-clock efforts to unearth dozens of bodies believed entombed beneath mounds of metal and concrete.
Teams from the United Nations, the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Haitian police and rescuers from France, the United States and Canada have been scouring the rubble since the school collapsed.
UN engineers and soldiers from the UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) have worked to remove heavy pieces of concrete and to contain the large crowds of people.
He said a camera was being used to peer into the pile of rubble and search teams were now clearing away roofing.
Officials have said that the school's head and owner, Pastor Augustin Fortain, was being questioned but so far "has not been formally charged with anything."
At the time of the collapse, builders had been adding a new floor to the school. Witnesses told AFP that Fortain had constructed the building without the help of engineers.
France has offered emergency aid amounting to 20,000 euros (25,000 dollars) to help build a new school in the area.
Haïti-Ecole-Accident
Catastrophe de Pétion-Ville : Au moins 103 morts et 150 blessés
Pratiquement plus aucun espoir de retrouver des rescapés ; deuil de deux jours dans la commune
lundi 10 novembre 2008,
Radio Kiskeya
Au moins 103 personnes ont été tuées et 150 autres blessées, en majorité de jeunes écoliers, dans l’effondrement vendredi du bâtiment de cinq étages du Collège évangélique La Promesse, dans le quartier de Nerette à Pétion-Ville (banlieue est de Port-au-Prince), a indiqué lundi soir sur les ondes de Radio Kiskeya le porte-parole de la Police Nationale, Gary Desrosier.
Un précédent bilan portait le nombre des décès à 96 et celui des blessés à 150.
Sept nouveaux corps en état de décomposition avancée ont été repérés dans les décombres du bâtiment de cinq étages qui logeait l’établissement.
Plus de 72 heures, les autorités semblaient avoir définitivement tiré un trait sur tout espoir de retrouver d’éventuels survivants, mais laissaient des sapeurs-pompiers haïtiens, américains et franco-martiniquais poursuivre leurs efforts de déblayage du site extrêmement fragile et dangereux.
Une grue du centre national des équipements (CNE), installée depuis trois jours devant les locaux du collège, a abandonné le théâtre de l’événement, préfigurant la fin prochaine des opérations qui pourraient toutefois se poursuivre jusqu’à jeudi.
La mairie de Pétion-Ville a décrété deux journées de deuil mardi et mercredi dans la commune en mémoire des victimes. Toutes les activités festives sont prohibées et les médias locaux sont invités à adopter une programmation de circonstance.
La mairesse Lydie Parent a été entendue lundi en milieu de journée au parquet de Port-au-Prince dans le cadre de l’enquête ouverte sur l’accident. Pour sa part, le directeur-fondateur de La Promesse, le pasteur Fortin Augustin, qui s’est volontairement constitué prisonnier, était placé en détention provisoire au siège de la police judiciaire (DCPJ). spp/Radio Kiskeya
Pratiquement plus aucun espoir de retrouver des rescapés ; deuil de deux jours dans la commune
lundi 10 novembre 2008,
Radio Kiskeya
Au moins 103 personnes ont été tuées et 150 autres blessées, en majorité de jeunes écoliers, dans l’effondrement vendredi du bâtiment de cinq étages du Collège évangélique La Promesse, dans le quartier de Nerette à Pétion-Ville (banlieue est de Port-au-Prince), a indiqué lundi soir sur les ondes de Radio Kiskeya le porte-parole de la Police Nationale, Gary Desrosier.
Un précédent bilan portait le nombre des décès à 96 et celui des blessés à 150.
Sept nouveaux corps en état de décomposition avancée ont été repérés dans les décombres du bâtiment de cinq étages qui logeait l’établissement.
Plus de 72 heures, les autorités semblaient avoir définitivement tiré un trait sur tout espoir de retrouver d’éventuels survivants, mais laissaient des sapeurs-pompiers haïtiens, américains et franco-martiniquais poursuivre leurs efforts de déblayage du site extrêmement fragile et dangereux.
Une grue du centre national des équipements (CNE), installée depuis trois jours devant les locaux du collège, a abandonné le théâtre de l’événement, préfigurant la fin prochaine des opérations qui pourraient toutefois se poursuivre jusqu’à jeudi.
La mairie de Pétion-Ville a décrété deux journées de deuil mardi et mercredi dans la commune en mémoire des victimes. Toutes les activités festives sont prohibées et les médias locaux sont invités à adopter une programmation de circonstance.
La mairesse Lydie Parent a été entendue lundi en milieu de journée au parquet de Port-au-Prince dans le cadre de l’enquête ouverte sur l’accident. Pour sa part, le directeur-fondateur de La Promesse, le pasteur Fortin Augustin, qui s’est volontairement constitué prisonnier, était placé en détention provisoire au siège de la police judiciaire (DCPJ). spp/Radio Kiskeya
Monday, November 10, 2008
Rescuers, Finding No New Survivors, Will Raze Haiti School
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) — Rescuers at a collapsed school in Haiti were ending the hunt for survivors on Sunday and will soon demolish the remains of the building, where about 90 people were killed, officials said.
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Orlando Barría/European Pressphoto Agency
Haitians dug in the debris of a fallen school on Sunday after they pushed past security in anger at the rescue effort’s pace.
“Rescue workers and experts are making the last check to be certain there is nobody alive under the debris,” Nadia Lochard, a civil defense official, said Sunday. “We will recover all the bodies and destroy the building.”
Four survivors were pulled from the ruins of the three-story church school on Saturday, a day after it collapsed, injuring 150 people. No survivors had been found since, officials said.
Disaster experts, officials and rescue workers had held back from using heavy equipment at the site in Pétionville, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, out of fear that wobbly blocks of concrete and other debris might fall on any survivors under the rubble.
“We are trying the best we can to make sure no one alive is under the debris by the time we start using heavier equipment,” said Luc-Eucher Joseph, the secretary of state for public safety.
Firefighters from Fairfax, Va., and rescue workers from Martinique were among the searchers at the school, la Promesse. They were using dogs to hunt for survivors.
Fortin Augustin, a Protestant minister who owns the school and church, was being held by the police on Sunday.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
4 rescued from Haiti school's collapse
The Associated Press
November 9, 2008
Reporting from Petionville, Haiti -- Rescuers pulled four children alive Saturday from the rubble of a three-story school that collapsed on hundreds of students and teachers, killing at least 88 people.
Emergency workers cradled the dazed children in their arms and rushed them into ambulances, U.N. police spokesman Andre Leclerc said.
The extent of the injuries to the two girls, ages 3 and 5, and two boys, a 7-year-old and a teenager, was unknown, Leclerc said. The 3-year-old had a cut on her head but did not appear to be seriously harmed, he said. "She was talking and drinking juice," Leclerc said.
Search teams from the United States and France joined the hunt for survivors in the remains of the hilltop College La Promesse in suburban Port-au-Prince a day after it tumbled down. Thousands of Haitians cheered and shouted directions to rescuers, and trucks carrying oxygen and other medical supplies rumbled up the hillside.
Nadia Lochard, civil protection coordinator for the region, said that the death toll had risen to 84 and that 150 people were injured.
U.S. rescuers using digital cameras on long poles to look under the rubble found at least six bodies, but think that two of them were included in Lochard's death toll, said Evan Lewis, a member of a team from Virginia.
Angelique Toussaint kept vigil on a rooftop overlooking the rubble and prayed that her 13-year-old granddaughter, Velouna, would be saved. "I think they're doing a good job. It's a little slow, but I'm relieved all these people are helping," Toussaint said.
President Rene Preval said poor construction, including a lack of steel reinforcement, was to blame for the collapse. He said structures throughout Haiti were also at risk.
November 9, 2008
Reporting from Petionville, Haiti -- Rescuers pulled four children alive Saturday from the rubble of a three-story school that collapsed on hundreds of students and teachers, killing at least 88 people.
Emergency workers cradled the dazed children in their arms and rushed them into ambulances, U.N. police spokesman Andre Leclerc said.
The extent of the injuries to the two girls, ages 3 and 5, and two boys, a 7-year-old and a teenager, was unknown, Leclerc said. The 3-year-old had a cut on her head but did not appear to be seriously harmed, he said. "She was talking and drinking juice," Leclerc said.
Search teams from the United States and France joined the hunt for survivors in the remains of the hilltop College La Promesse in suburban Port-au-Prince a day after it tumbled down. Thousands of Haitians cheered and shouted directions to rescuers, and trucks carrying oxygen and other medical supplies rumbled up the hillside.
Nadia Lochard, civil protection coordinator for the region, said that the death toll had risen to 84 and that 150 people were injured.
U.S. rescuers using digital cameras on long poles to look under the rubble found at least six bodies, but think that two of them were included in Lochard's death toll, said Evan Lewis, a member of a team from Virginia.
Angelique Toussaint kept vigil on a rooftop overlooking the rubble and prayed that her 13-year-old granddaughter, Velouna, would be saved. "I think they're doing a good job. It's a little slow, but I'm relieved all these people are helping," Toussaint said.
President Rene Preval said poor construction, including a lack of steel reinforcement, was to blame for the collapse. He said structures throughout Haiti were also at risk.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
More videos and facts about the school collapse
- As I am writing this blog the death toll is estimated at 82 according to Radio Kiskeya. Can you imagine these kids went under the rubble I guess around 12ish pm and had to wait for a a rescue team from Martinique and the USA to come to really start helping. By bringing dogs and equipment. Jamaica also came to our help! I would like to thank these countries for their help!
- Some of the kids though they had they legs crushed were able to talk to people while under the blocks and they were given waters and cookies to survive. I am talking about kids from 3 to 20 and even older. The school has 700 students. A lot of teachers are feared dead as well. Thanks USAID for their help!
- The school is called: "La promesse" which is translated in English the promise! France is sending a lot of people from his provinces.
- The school is a christian school and the owner is Pastor Fortin Augustin. The school had a casual day event. In general students in Haiti go to school wearing uniforms.
Some of the kids under the rubble were able to call their parents while being crushed and of course their cellphone went dead and these parents are now losing their minds since they do not know the state of their kids.
Please keep on praying for Haiti. If you can help, do not hesitate to do so!
Haïti-Ecole-Accident
Plus de 30 morts et plusieurs dizaines de blessés à Pétion-Ville
Alors qu’une équipe du SAMU français devait participer aux secours, un autre accident a été enregistré non loin du site de la catastrophe
vendredi 7 novembre 2008,
Radio Kiskeya
Des spécialistes du SAMU français (service d’aide médicale d’urgence), en provenance de la Martinique, étaient attendus vendredi soir à Port-au-Prince en vue d’aider à retrouver des rescapés de la catastrophe enregistrée dans une école de Pétion-Ville (banlieue est de Port-au-Prince) qui a fait plus d’une trentaine de morts et des dizaines de blessés.
"Une équipe du SAMU accompagnée de chiens renifleurs sera opérationnelle vendredi à partir de minuit sur les lieux de la catastrophe", a déclaré en exclusivité sur Radio Kiskeya le ministre de la santé publique et de la population, Dr Alex Larsen.
Les experts et chiens venus du département français d’outre-mer devaient s’évertuer à identifier et dégager d’éventuels survivants qui se trouveraient parmi des personnes en nombre indéterminé coincées sous les décombres du bâtiment.
Des équipes techniques américaines et canadiennes pourraient également être dépêchées en Haïti.
Après les visites du Président René Préval, de la Première ministre Michèle Pierre-Louis, de plusieurs ministres, parlementaires et membres du conseil communal de Pétion-Ville, des parents et proches d’élèves de La Promesse Collège Evangélique portés disparus étaient littéralement désespérés à la tombée de la nuit. Ce qui restait du bâtiment de trois étages était plongé dans l’obscurité. Déjà, en milieu de journée, des torches et génératrices avaient dû être mises à contribution pour assurer l’éclairage du site qui se trouve au fond d’un corridor encerclé d’un vaste bidonville.
Parallèlement, le bilan de la tragédie s’est nettement alourdi, passant à au moins 28 morts et plusieurs dizaines de blessés, dont certains dans un état critique, selon des sources policières et des secouristes contactés par Radio Kiskeya.
Plusieurs autres corps avaient été retrouvés auparavant et acheminés à à la morgue.
Pour leur part, une soixantaine d’agents de la Mission de stabilisation des Nations Unies (MINUSTAH) étaient impliqués dans les opérations de secours. Des ingénieurs militaires brésiliens, chiliens et équatoriens ainsi que des militaires philippins ont apporté 540 litres d’eau aux personnes incapbles de sortir des décombres et victimes de déshydratation.
"Si nous ne pouvons pas faire venir des équipements pour les secours, cela va être difficile de sortir les gens coincés dans le bâtiment effondré", a affirmé David Wimhurst, porte-parole de la MINUSTAH, rapporte le Centre d’actualités de l’ONU. Il souligne que le commandant des troupes onusiennes, le général brésilien Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz, a été contraint de garer son véhicule à un kilomètre de l’école et de se frayer à pied un passage à travers une foule compacte pour atteindre le site de l’accident.
Vendredi soir, un autre accident s’est produit à l’entrée de Pétion-Ville, corsant l’addition du jour. Environ six véhicules en stationnement ont été complètement écrabouillés lorsque les freins d’un tracteur, qui participait aux opérations de sauvetage, ont lâché. Trois personnes ont été blessées. spp/Radio Kiskeya
Alors qu’une équipe du SAMU français devait participer aux secours, un autre accident a été enregistré non loin du site de la catastrophe
vendredi 7 novembre 2008,
Radio Kiskeya
Des spécialistes du SAMU français (service d’aide médicale d’urgence), en provenance de la Martinique, étaient attendus vendredi soir à Port-au-Prince en vue d’aider à retrouver des rescapés de la catastrophe enregistrée dans une école de Pétion-Ville (banlieue est de Port-au-Prince) qui a fait plus d’une trentaine de morts et des dizaines de blessés.
"Une équipe du SAMU accompagnée de chiens renifleurs sera opérationnelle vendredi à partir de minuit sur les lieux de la catastrophe", a déclaré en exclusivité sur Radio Kiskeya le ministre de la santé publique et de la population, Dr Alex Larsen.
Les experts et chiens venus du département français d’outre-mer devaient s’évertuer à identifier et dégager d’éventuels survivants qui se trouveraient parmi des personnes en nombre indéterminé coincées sous les décombres du bâtiment.
Des équipes techniques américaines et canadiennes pourraient également être dépêchées en Haïti.
Après les visites du Président René Préval, de la Première ministre Michèle Pierre-Louis, de plusieurs ministres, parlementaires et membres du conseil communal de Pétion-Ville, des parents et proches d’élèves de La Promesse Collège Evangélique portés disparus étaient littéralement désespérés à la tombée de la nuit. Ce qui restait du bâtiment de trois étages était plongé dans l’obscurité. Déjà, en milieu de journée, des torches et génératrices avaient dû être mises à contribution pour assurer l’éclairage du site qui se trouve au fond d’un corridor encerclé d’un vaste bidonville.
Parallèlement, le bilan de la tragédie s’est nettement alourdi, passant à au moins 28 morts et plusieurs dizaines de blessés, dont certains dans un état critique, selon des sources policières et des secouristes contactés par Radio Kiskeya.
Plusieurs autres corps avaient été retrouvés auparavant et acheminés à à la morgue.
Pour leur part, une soixantaine d’agents de la Mission de stabilisation des Nations Unies (MINUSTAH) étaient impliqués dans les opérations de secours. Des ingénieurs militaires brésiliens, chiliens et équatoriens ainsi que des militaires philippins ont apporté 540 litres d’eau aux personnes incapbles de sortir des décombres et victimes de déshydratation.
"Si nous ne pouvons pas faire venir des équipements pour les secours, cela va être difficile de sortir les gens coincés dans le bâtiment effondré", a affirmé David Wimhurst, porte-parole de la MINUSTAH, rapporte le Centre d’actualités de l’ONU. Il souligne que le commandant des troupes onusiennes, le général brésilien Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz, a été contraint de garer son véhicule à un kilomètre de l’école et de se frayer à pied un passage à travers une foule compacte pour atteindre le site de l’accident.
Vendredi soir, un autre accident s’est produit à l’entrée de Pétion-Ville, corsant l’addition du jour. Environ six véhicules en stationnement ont été complètement écrabouillés lorsque les freins d’un tracteur, qui participait aux opérations de sauvetage, ont lâché. Trois personnes ont été blessées. spp/Radio Kiskeya
Friday, November 7, 2008
Rescue after school collapes in Haiti! Warning graphic images!
It is now 7:53 PM and local radio are asking people to go donate blood for the kids. People can hear the kids crying but they can not get to them 'cause there are no material that can do this work and also to access this particular part where the school is some houses have to be destroy to allow heavy duty truck to perform rescue there. Please pray for these parents who do not know whether their kids are in the hospital or dead.
Rescue continues into the night after Haiti school collapses
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CNN) -- Rescue workers in Haiti will work into the night to dig out students from the rubble of a school that collapsed Friday, the Red Cross said.
Haitians try to help victims at a school that collapsed Friday in Petionville, near Port-au-Prince.
Haitians try to help victims at a school that collapsed Friday in Petionville, near Port-au-Prince.
At least 25 students died, said Alex Claudon, a Red Cross official on the scene in Petionville, near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
Officials said the school could have had as many as 700 people inside, and the death toll is expected to rise.
"We are looking at major casualties here," Claudon said.
He said dozens of students appeared to be trapped inside but couldn't give an exact number. However, he said it was a typical school day and the building had been crowded.
Most of the students at the College La Promesse Evangelique range in age from 10 to 20, he said, but there are younger ones as well. Haitian press reports said the school has kindergarten, primary and secondary students.
Michaele Gedeon, president of Haiti's Red Cross, said she heard the voices of distraught children as rescuers tried to calm them while she was on the phone attempting to coordinate emergency rescue efforts. Video Watch as the Red Cross official describes the scene »
"On the phone, you can hear so many children, you know, crying, crying and saying, 'this one is dead,' 'that one is dead,' " she said.
Claudon said hundreds of bystanders and rescue workers were digging through the rubble, but "what we need right now is heavy search-and-rescue equipment."
Claudon later said, "local authorities are doing their best."
Fifty to 60 patients, 30 of them severely injured, were taken to Trinite Hospital in Port-au-Prince, said Isabelle Mouniaman Nara, the head of mission in the capital for Medecins sans Frontieres.
Trinite is the only hospital open in Port-au-Prince, the group said. The other two -- General Hospital and Hospital de la Paix -- are closed by strikes.
The school is in an extremely poor part of town, and the roads are nearly impassable, local journalist Clarens Renois said.
A United Nations helicopter was unable to land, Renois said.
"The school is poorly built," said Amelia Shaw, a journalist with United Nations TV who visited the scene.
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The school consisted of two floors with an addition built in the rear over a 200-foot ravine, Shaw said by telephone. The steep hillside, she said, is covered with shanty-like housing on both sides.
The disaster occurred when the second floor crumbled onto the first, Shaw said.
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