Dozens of people in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti’s second largest city, were killed late Monday after a gasoline tanker exploded.
“We have 59 people killed so far, and we have dozens at the hospital and health centers across the city,” said Cap-Haïtien Deputy Mayor Patrick Almonor, according to CNN. “We have nearly 50 houses impacted by the fire and most of them will need to be demolished ASAP.”
“The city will need a lot of help to come out of this tragedy; the central government is offering to help but we are waiting to see it. We believe we will need more than just the central government — the situation is critical,” Almonor said.
CNN reported that medical officials have issued a public call for blood donations.
Speaking to Reuters, Cap-Haïtien Mayor Pierre Yvrose said, “We need human resources, and also material resources, namely, serum, gauze, and anything that can be used in case of serious burns.”
The total number of those injured in the blast is currently unknown.
“I learned, with desolation and emotion, the sad news of the explosion, last night, in Cap-Haitien, of a tanker truck which transported gasoline and which caused, according to a partial report, about forty dead, dozens injured, as well as extensive material damage,” Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry said on Twitter.
Henry has decreed three days of national mourning in Haiti for the victims of the explosion.