16179: (Chamberlain) Haiti-Electrocutions (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MICHAEL NORTON

   PETIT-GOAVE, July 22 (AP) -- A high voltage wire snapped and fell onto
fans watching a basketball game in Haiti, electrocuting 15 of the
spectators, witnesses said Tuesday.
   Hundreds were watching the game on Monday night when the 2,500-volt wire
began to spark. Within minutes, the powerline fell on the crowd in this
small seaside town, 45 miles west of the capital.
   "One after the other, (people) fell," said Fitzgerald Douge, 63, a
witness and public defender.
   The court's backboard was draped in black on Tuesday as residents sat
tear-filled on their porches.
   Most of the dead were teenagers. The youngest killed was 9-year-old
Patricia Pierre. Two people were slightly injured with burns.
   Like most towns in poverty-stricken Haiti, the coastal town of Petit
Goave has been plagued with unreliable electric power for years.
   But in April, an independent power producer began to provide
around-the-clock electricity. For the first time in months, streets and
public places -- such as the basketball court -- were illuminated.
   "It's a tragedy," said Mayor Reginald Francois, pointing out that the
cash-strapped state-run electricity company has not been able to modernize
the dilapidated network of wires, transformers, and telephone poles.
   The electricity network dates from 1948, he said.
   Rain had soaked the wires above the basketball court but officials said
the short was likely caused because of a bad repair job.
   The family of 15-year-old Anthony Louis, one of those electrocuted, said
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government offered on Tuesday to
pay for the funerals of those killed.
   Louis' mother, Laviolette Saint-Ursule, 53, said she couldn't believe
her son was dead.
   "A 15-year-old," she said repeatedly, sobbing and lying face-down on her
porch. "I'm all alone."