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Scores killed in Haitian school collapse
The death toll rose to at least 82 on Saturday in the collapse of a school in Haiti when rescuers uncovered a room with 21 dead, many of them children, the country's president said.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:37 November 7, 2008
- The three-story La Promesse school building collapsed while class was in session.
- Image Credit: AP
Port-au-Prince: The death toll rose to at least 82 on Saturday in the collapse of a school in Haiti when rescuers uncovered a room with 21 dead, many of them children, the country's president said.
The three-story La Promesse school building collapsed while class was in session and some of the walls and debris crushed neighbouring residences near Port-au-Prince.
At the scene, crying and screaming parents searched desperately for their children while bodies of students lay crushed under blocks of concrete.
"This morning we found a classroom with 21 inside—students and their professor—and they are all dead," said Haitian President Rene Preval.
"Right now we cannot say how many bodies we will have because the work is not yet finished," he said.
Preval said rescuers dropped water and biscuits through holes in the rubble to a group of children and focused their efforts on reaching them.
At least 124 people were injured. Officials said there were 700 children enrolled at the school but it was unknown how many were in the building when it collapsed.
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