“People began pushing. Some fell, and others trampled over them,” an official said of the chaos that ensued at the Laferriere Citadel
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NEED TO KNOW
- At least 30 people died after a stampede broke out during the annual celebration of the Laferriere Citadel
- “People began pushing. Some fell, and others trampled over them … some people died from suffocation,” an official said
- The cause of the stampede has yet to be determined
At least 30 people died after a stampede broke out at a popular tourist destination.
On Saturday, April 11, many tourists and visitors gathered at the Laferriere Citadel to participate in the annual celebration of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Haiti when a deadly stampede crushed dozens, including “many young people,” to death.
“In the face of this painful situation, the national authorities express their strong emotion and immense sadness,” the office of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé wrote in a social media statement. “The Government sends its sincere condolences to the affected families and assures them of its deep solidarity in these moments of grief and great suffering.”
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The site was especially crowded as hundreds of individuals gathered to celebrate the anniversary of the early 19th-century mountaintop fortress that symbolizes sovereignty and resistance against French colonialism. Officials said that the event was widely advertised on social media, per the BBC.
“All competent authorities are fully mobilized and placed on maximum alert to provide, without delay, the necessary assistance, care and support to the affected people and their loved ones,” the office of the prime minister continued in a statement. “The Government is monitoring the situation with utmost attention and urges the population to be calm and cautious, awaiting the results of ongoing investigations to determine the exact circumstances of this tragedy.”
According to The New York Times, Emmanuel Ménard, the minister of culture and communication, said that Haitian officials have launched an investigation into why the stampede took place “so everyone knows what happened.”
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In the meantime, preliminary reports suggest that rain played a role in inciting chaos at the entrance of the fortress, after which 13 bodies were recovered at the tourist destination while another 17 were taken to a nearby hospital.
“While some people wanted to leave, others were trying to enter,” Ménard explained. “People began pushing. Some fell, and others trampled over them. Consequently, some people died from suffocation.”
He also told the AFP news agency that the death toll could rise due to the number of people who have been reported missing, per Deutsche Welle.
"The injured are currently receiving the necessary medical care,” Ménard said, adding that “a rescue team is searching for any missing persons.”
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