25265: Wharram -news -One Dead in Haiti Market Shooting (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

>From Bruce Wharram <bruce.wharram@sev.org>


Yahoo! News
One Dead in Haiti Market Shooting

Tue May 31, 8:03 PM ET

A fire burned through a large market in Haiti's capital Tuesday moments
after a gun fight erupted that killed at least one man, officials said. U.N.
peacekeepers rushed to evacuate the area.

Firefighters and a large water truck struggled to put out flames engulfing
vending stalls at the Ox Head market in downtown Port-au-Prince. About 50
peacekeepers cordoned off the area and helped with the evacuation.

A man with a bullet wound to his head lay dead at the market's entrance.
Residents said he had been killed by armed men who stormed through the
market, firing guns. Vendors said they heard an explosion before the fire
erupted.

Emilson Branche, 39, emerged from the market with severely burned forearms.
He said he saw the bodies of several dead people inside. However, U.N.
soldiers said they couldn't confirm that report.

It was unclear who attacked the market or what started the fire, which also
spread to the roof of a nearby police station.

Haitian police and a 7,400-member U.N. peacekeeping force have struggled to
control violence since the February 2004 rebellion that ousted President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.