The government of Haiti decreed this Monday three days of mourning, from Tuesday to Thursday, for the tragedy that claimed the lives of at least 30 people on Saturday in one stampede in one of the most important historical monuments in the countryand promised that the perpetrators of the events will be brought to justice “so that everything is clarified.”
During this period, The national flag will fly at half-mast, “as a sign of recollection, respect and national unity”, said a statement, which added that, “at this time of profound grief, the country solemnly bows to the memory of the victims and expresses its deepest condolences to the affected families.”
Government of Haiti will assume funeral expenses
The Haitian government announced that it will take care of funeral expenseswhile calling on the nation “to unity, dignity and a sense of responsibility.”
Last Saturday, at At least thirty people died during a stampede at the Henri Citadelnear Cap-Haïtien (north, the country’s second city), a huge fortress built at the beginning of the 19th century, a few years after Haitian independence from France.
According to preliminary data from the Civil Protection Directorate, the place was crowded with people due to traditional festivities and, at a certain point, There was a stampede with “numerous” cases of suffocation and loss of consciousness.
The causes of this tragedy are still unknown while the Justice and Police are investigating and, according to the Minister of Culture and Communication (MCC), Emmanuel Ménard, “some people have already begun to be questioned.”
The person in charge of the Institute for the Safeguarding of National Heritage (Ispan) is on the ground to carry out the first evaluations and that the representative of the Executive in the region is coordinating with the judicial and police authorities so that preliminary investigations can begin, as reported on Sunday.
