Several dead after small plane crashes into Haiti street

Issued on: 21/04/2022 – 04:40

The aircraft was flying from the capital of Port-au-Prince to the southern town of Jacmel, Pierre Belamy Samedi, police chief in the suburb Carrefour where the plane crashed shortly after takeoff, told AFP.

“I saw five unmoving bodies and at least three injured people who were not in the plane,” he said.

Earlier he said the pilot had survived, but police later clarified that the pilot was among the five dead on board the aircraft.

The crash also killed a motorbike driver and wounded five other people on the ground, according to Judge Moise Jean. All the wounded were taken to hospital.

Samedi said the plane also struck a truck carrying consumer goods.

“I am profoundly saddened, after this crash of a small plane on the Carrefour roadway which has caused deaths and injuries,” Prime Minister Ariel Henry tweeted Wednesday evening.

Je suis profondément attristé, suite au crash d’un petit avion sur la route de Carrefour, ayant causé des morts et des blessés. J’adresse mes sympathies aux familles des victimes, que ce nouveau drame vient de plonger dans la plus grande désolation.#Haïti

— Dr Ariel Henry (@DrArielHenry) April 20, 2022

“I offer my sympathies to the families of the victims, for whom this latest development has just brought great desolation.”

Air traffic has grown substantially in Haiti over the last year, as gang violence near Port-au-Prince has blocked road connections from the capital to other parts of the country.

(AFP)