[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
#2800: Angry villagers attack Haitian police station (fwd)
From:nozier@tradewind.net
WIRE:03/10/2000 10:15:00 ET
Angry villagers attack Haitian police station
PORT-AU-PRINCE, March 10 (Reuters) - A crowd of angry Haitians
attacked a police station in a coastal village after rumours spread
that a bus driver allegedly responsible for a deadly accident had
returned, police said on Friday. While Haiti celebrated its Mardi Gras
carnival on Tuesday night, a speeding bus driver heading toward
Port-au-Prince from the southwest town of Jeremie slammed into a
carnival crowd dancing in the street in Grand-Goave. At least 17
people were killed and another 22 injured, all of them among the crowd
in the street, witnesses said. The driver sped on without stopping,
but was forced to abandon his bus farther up the road because another
carnival band blocked the highway. The driver escaped on foot,
witnesses said. On Thursday, Grand-Goave villagers, shaken by the
tragedy,attacked the local police station after hearing a rumour that
the driver had returned to reclaim his bus, named "God's Gift," which
was parked at the station. The rumour proved to be false. "They tried
to burn the station down, but police were able to regain control,"
police spokesman Jean-Dady Simeon.Grand-Goave is 30 miles (50 km)
southwest of the capital. The crowd attempted to set fire to the station
after a police officer pulled his gun and threatened them,witnesses
said. The crowd set fire to the bus, a police car and a pick-up truck
parked near the station. Police fled the scene, witnesses said.
Protesters also set up flaming barricades at the entrance and exit of
Grand-Goave on Thursday. Crowd-control police arrived a short while
later and made several arrests. Many of the protesters were in hiding
on Friday, witnesses said.