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Haiti recently celebrated Carnival in Port au Prince and tragedy struck the celebration when a man on top of a float was electrocuted. He was apparently trying to move a wire so the float could pass underneath it. It’s being reported that many victims were instantly electrocuted through many sparks. Other people on the float were able to jump off, which is what caused panic in the crowd.

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The commotion unfortunately sparked the panicked crowd to flee, which ended up causing various people to be trampled, many of them were killed. The float was one in 16 in Carnival and it was sponsored by the Haitian hip-hop group Barikad Crew. “I saw the wire falling and sparks and I started running for my life,” said Natacha Saint Fleur, a 22-year-old who was near the float at the time. Evidently, it’s common for someone on the top of the parade float to move low-hanging power lines and in Brazil, three people were recently killed by electrocution when a power line hit a float in Rio de Janeiro.

Huffington Post is reporting that there were conflicting reports on the number of casualties. Nadia Lochard, a coordinator for the Department of Civil Protection, said at least 20 people were killed and 46 were injured.

The victims were brought to General Hospital where hundreds of people searched for their loved ones in the chaos. According to reports Haitian officials were expected to announce later Tuesday whether they would cancel a second day of Carnival events. Communications Minister Rothchild Francis said the government was working to assist victims. First lady Sophia Martelly visited some of the injured at the General Hospital but left without speaking to reporters.

Haitian President Michel Martelly tweeted his condolences:

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who lost their lives during Carnival. What is supposed to be a celebration ended up being a horrific accident that the people of Haiti will not forget.

 

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Freak Accident At Haiti Carnival Electrocutes & Kills At Least 20 People  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com