Trou-du-Nord — A gas tank explosion at a warehouse in Trou-du-Nord, the northern Haiti town known as the birthplace of assassinated president Jovenel Moïse, has left at least one dead and injured several residents, online media outlet Vant Bèf Info reported.
The Dec. 10 fuel tank explosion occurred Friday in the locality of Devarèn. A woman identified as Nicole Joseph, the owner of the warehouse, died in the blast. About a dozen others were rushed to area hospitals with burn injuries, Vant bèf Info reported. Several houses, vehicles and motorcycles, among others, also caught on fire.
The warehouse had been stocked with gallons of fuel that allegedly fed black market gas sales in the town.
An ongoing fuel shortage in Haiti has pushed motorcyclists, car drivers to protest several times last summer and in the start of the fall. Protesters said the gas station owners are allegedly taking part in a scheme with street merchants to drive up prices for drivers.
Authorities in different parts of the country have confiscated gallons of fuel from street vendors in a crackdown to stop the fuel black market.