At least fifteen persons were killed when a gasoline-carrying tanker truck in Haiti toppled over and exploded on Saturday, September 14. A UN helicopter was used to transfer one of the 40 people who were critically hurt. The disaster site was visited by Prime Minister Garry Conille in the southern port city of Miragoane, Haiti. From a regional helipad in Port-au-Prince, he spoke
“We just witnessed a horrific scenario involving several dozen people, many of whom were severely burned and injured. Many of them would have needed to be airlifted to the town of Les Cayes.” Additional casualties were brought to the Saint Boniface medical facility, located east of Les Cayes. According to local media, the victims were attempting to retrieve fuel from the downed tanker when the explosion happened.
The 12 million-person country has also been dealing with fuel shortages as gang warfare makes it more challenging to import products.