At least 30 people were killed and dozens more hospitalized after a stampede at Citadelle Laferriere in northern Haiti on Saturday, authorities said. The crush occurred during an annual event at the UNESCO World Heritage site described by officials as “a tourist activity bringing together many young people.”
Culture Minister Emmanuel Menard told AFP that the injured were receiving medical care and that a rescue team was searching for missing persons. Local officials warned the death toll could rise because several people remain unaccounted for.
Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime expressed his “sincere condolences to the bereaved families” and pledged government support, saying authorities were “fully mobilized and placed on maximum alert to provide, without delay, the necessary assistance, care and support.”
The tragedy comes as Haiti struggles with widespread gang violence that has disrupted life across much of the country. Citadelle Laferriere, near the northern port of Cap-Haitien, is one of Haiti’s main tourist sites and currently functions as a key gateway to the outside world amid instability in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The 19th-century fortress, built around 1820 to guard against a feared French return, stands as a powerful national symbol of the successful revolt against enslavement and of Haiti’s 1804 independence.