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HAITI - 23 dead as heavy rains continue

Published:Wednesday | June 8, 2011 | 12:00 AM
People watch rescue efforts after a deadly landslide was triggered by heavy rains in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, yesterday. Rains hammered southern Haiti for a seventh straight day, triggering floods and mudslides and causing houses and shanties in the capital to collapse. The official death toll from the storm was 23 but likely to rise. - AP

PORT-AU-PRINCE (CMC):

Heavy rains, caused by a low pressure area centred over the northwestern Caribbean Sea, have been blamed for at least 23 deaths in Haiti.

Disaster officials said that the rains yesterday have caused widespread destruction in the capital of the impoverished French speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country, still reeling from the devastation caused by the earthquake in January last year.

The director of Haiti's Civil protection, Atla Jean Baptiste said that three people were killed in houses that collapsed in the upscale neighbourhood of Petitionville, and two others died as rushing waters soaked the downtown tent camp near the ruined presidential palace.

The sixth person was killed in the town of Belladere, east of the capital.

President Michel Martelly, who was en route to Cite Soleil, one of the most impoverished parts of the capital, said he is assessing the damage caused by the rains.

"I was in the streets during the rain, and I got home, put my boots on, and I'm back in the streets to assess the situation. I'm now trying to help people, and distribute some food. I hope people can find shelter," Martelly said in a television broadcast.