3 Killed, Dozens injured in Haiti Carnival

Tue Feb 28, 2006 4:32 PM ET
By Joseph Guyler Delva

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - At least three people died and more than 50 have been injured during carnival festivities in Haiti, which has been plagued by political and gang violence, doctors and witnesses said on Tuesday.

Doctors at the general hospital in the capital said a man and two women died on Monday along the parade route in Port-au-Prince.

A 19-year-old man was killed when a float carrying a musical group ran him over. A woman died when she fell from a float and was crushed, and another woman died after being hit with a piece of a broken bottle, according to witnesses.

At least 50 people have been injured since the annual festival began on Sunday.

Hundreds of people have died in political and gang violence in Haiti in the last two years.

In the months leading up to the February 7 election, gunfire in the slums and kidnappings for ransom were a daily occurrence in the capital. But the country avoided a feared explosion of violence in connection with the vote, its first since former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was deposed by an armed revolt in February 2004.

Haiti's interim government disbursed nearly $2 million to finance the popular annual pre-Lenten carnival.

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