Death toll from gas tanker explosion in Haiti rises to 24

A tanker truck explosion on a road in southern Haiti on Saturday killed 24 people and half of the 40 injured survivors suffered third-degree burns, the government said.

Haiti's Prime Minister Garry Conille visited the scene of the accident near the coastal town of Miragoane in the Nippes department and said some of the most seriously injured victims had been evacuated by helicopter to receive specialized treatment.

In addition, ambulances were dispatched as quickly as possible to treat other people with severe burns and to relieve the pressure on overcrowded local hospitals.

“We have just witnessed a terrible scene. Many dozens of victims, injured and people with severe burns,” Conille said in a video released by the government.

The injured were mostly men, as well as three women and a child, according to a report by the Haitian emergency services, which did not provide any further information on the identities of the dead.

Another 15 people suffered second-degree burns, the report said.

A witness to the incident said the truck's gas tank was punctured by another vehicle and people immediately rushed to the scene to get gas.

“There were a lot of people there. Those who were near the truck were pulverized,” the man, who did not give his name, said in a video interview with local broadcaster Echo Haiti Media.

In a similar incident in 2021, at least 60 people were killed in the city of Cap-Haitien after people also allegedly attempted to steal fuel from a tanker truck.

In recent weeks, the Miragoane region has seen a decline in fuel supplies as trucks have had to be transported by ferry to avoid gang-controlled highways around the capital, Port-au-Prince.

The spread of gangs in the capital and surrounding areas has triggered a humanitarian crisis, including mass displacement, sexual violence, child recruitment and widespread hunger. A state of emergency has now been declared across the country.

Haiti's civil protection agency released the identities of a 31-year-old man and two 23-year-old men who suffered burns to 89 percent of their bodies and were being treated at a hospital in Les Cayes, southern Haiti.