Thu, February 26, 2009
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 259 people were reported injured in the concluding hours of Haiti's Carnival 2009,bringing the total casualties in the festivity to one death and 540 injuries, local police said on Thursday.
The sole fatality was identified as 15-year-old Sandra Pierre, who suffered several fractures in the skull after a gigantic carriage rolled over upon her during a street concert in Port-au-Prince, a police spokesman said on Thursday.
According to official statistics, around one million local residents participated in this year's Carnival, which began on Sunday.
In order to guarantee social order and security, Haitian police had sought the cooperation of the Red Cross and UN peacekeeping forces, Gary Desrosiers, Haitian police spokesman, told Xinhua.
Olsen Jan Julien, Haitian minister of culture and communication, said that Carnival celebrations help create employment and consumption in sectors like tourism and transportation, which implies considerable economic profitability to the Caribbean country.
He deemed the cultural-social event to be positive despite the casualties, and said that a permanent committee is to be established for the conservation and promotion of the Carnival, which he called a cultural-material heritage of Haiti.
