By Harold Isaac
PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 11 (Reuters) – At least 30 people were killed on Saturday in a stampede in the northern countryside of Haiti, authorities said, warning that the death toll could rise.
Jean Henri Petit, head of Civil Protection for Haiti’s Nord Department said the stampede occurred at the Laferriere Citadel, an early-19th-century fortress built shortly after Haiti’s independence from France.
One of Haiti’s most popular tourist attractions, the fortess was packed with students and visitors on Saturday who had come to participate in the annual celebration of the UNESCO World Heritage site, Petit added.
The Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé said in a statement that he “extends his sincere condolences to the bereaved families and assures them of his profound solidarity during this time of mourning and great suffering.”
He added that “many young people” were in attendance at the Citadel’s celebrations, although it is unknown who died and the prime minister’s statement did not give an estimate of the death toll.
Petit said the stampede occurred at the entrance to the site, and that the rain further exacerbated the disaster.
(Reporting by Harold Isaac in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, writing by Laura Gottesdiener in Monterrey, Mexico; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon)
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