Third fatal fire occurs in Haiti, government to halt fuel handling authorizations

PORT-DE-PAIX — Two people have died in a third fire caused by the illegal storage of fuel in a Port-de-Paix locality, Le Nouvelliste reported, bringing to three the number of fatal fires involving fuel seen in Haiti in four days.

Among the dead from the Dec. 14 fire in Dèletan are an older woman and a baby. Their names have not yet been released.

This is the third fire explosion in four days. On the same day, at least 75 people died in a fire in Cap-Haitien, Haiti’s second largest city. That fire occurred after a fuel tanker truck flipped on its side to avoid colliding with a motorcycle, then exploded.

A few days prior on Dec. 10, a Trou-du-Nord warehouse storing fuel also went up in flames, killing one woman and injuring several others.

On Dec. 15, Haiti’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced it would temporarily stop registering any new companies requesting authorization to work in the fuel industry. Officials said in a statement the decision aims to better regulate fuel-related activities around the country.

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