2008 Pétion-Ville school collapse

Collapse

During the collapse, the first floor of the school buckled under, and the second and third floors of the building came down upon it. The collapse also destroyed several nearby homes. However, only the first and second floors were filled with students, and some students were in the playground area. The cause of the collapse remains officially unstated, but residents of the town have said they suspect poor-quality construction as a cause.

The school had previously experienced a partial collapse in 2000, but it was rebuilt. After the first collapse, neighbors living downhill from the school abandoned their property out of fear that the building would fall onto their homes. The owner of the church-run school attempted to buy these vacated properties. In addition, the third floor of the building was under construction at the time of the 2008 collapse.

After the collapse, at least 200 people were seen at hospitals in and around Port-au-Prince. However, because of strikes at General Hospital and Hospital de la Paix, two hospitals in the town, Trinité Hospital and University of Haiti Hospital saw most of the injured.

Arrest

College La Promesse school owner, Rev. Fortin Augustin, Protestant minister and preacher, was arrested on November 8, 2008. He was charged with involuntary manslaughter and brought to a Haitian police station, after he allegedly told Haitian president René Préval that "the church school had been built with hardly any structural steel or cement to hold its concrete blocks together; he constructed the building all by himself, saying he didn't need an engineer as he had good knowledge of construction." He claimed to have the knowledge of construction and the word of God with him. Everywhere he went he had always tried to spread it, teaching people that the way that they are supposed to get through life is with the word of God in their hearts because that's really the only thing that can save when you are in a situation you can't get out of.

Reaction and rescue operations

Haiti's neighbor, the Dominican Republic, sent two helicopters to assist in evacuating the injured. United Nations peacekeepers, stationed in the country since the 2004 coup d'état, assisted in the rescue efforts, as did members of the aid group Doctors Without Borders and the International Red Cross.{{cite news |url-status=dead

Hilario Davide, Jr. reported that “Filipino Blue Berets were the first to arrive at the scene on November 7 and immediately went to action, using their bare hands to roll over concrete slabs and dig through the rubble in their bid to pull out both the living and the dead. 157 officers and enlisted personnel from the Philippine Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as 13 other officers from the Philippine National Police, are serving with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). The Filipinos were instrumental in the recovery of 9 victims who survived the tragedy.” The Filipino peace-keepers worked with blue helmets from Brazil, Chile, and Ecuador and Haitian police.

Related incidents

Only five days after the Pétion-Ville school disaster, portions of Grace Divine School in Port-au-Prince also collapsed.

References

References

1. [https://archive.today/20120711143621/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/09/content_10329992.htm news.xinhuanet.com, Death toll in Haitian school collapse rises to 92]
2. (2008-11-08). "50 dead in Haitian grade-school collapse". AFP.
3. Katz, Jonathan M.. (2008-11-07). "Death toll in Haiti school collapse rises to 30". AP.
4. Beaumont, Peter. (2008-11-09). "Haiti school collapse: 200 feared missing". The Observer.
5. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081112092508/http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSN08329116.CH.2400 www.reuters.com, Death toll passes 90 in Haiti school collapse]
6. (2008-11-08). "Deadly school collapse in Haiti". BBC.
7. (2008-11-09). "84 killed, 150 injured in Haitian school collapse". Associated Press.
8. (2008-11-08). "Rescue continues into the night after Haiti school collapses". CNN.
9. Katz, Jonathan. (2008-11-07). "Death toll in Haiti school collapse rises to 30". [[Associated Press]].
10. [https://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/11/08/haiti.school.collapse/?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail edition.cnn.com, Death toll climbs as search continues in Haiti collapse]
11. [http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5i3jsMrv2mc_brMsaULSfRJLfmk-Q canadianpress.google.com, Owner of collapsed Haiti school arrested]{{dead link. (July 2010)
12. "macaunews.net, Haiti school owner in custody".
13. (2008-11-07). "USAID Responds Immediately to Haitian School Collapse". Wall Street Journal.
14. [http://www.gmanews.tv/story/132540/RP-troops-helping-in-rescue-work-in-Haiti-building-collapse gmanews.tv/story, RP troops helping in rescue work in Haiti building collapse]
15. (2008-12-08). "Second school collapses in Haiti". CNN.