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At least 6 dead, several injured in Haiti plane crash

21 Apr 2022

Onlookers mill around the wreckage of a small plane in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Wednesday. AP

Gulf Today Report

A small plane crashed Wednesday in the bustling Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, killing at least six people and injuring several others on Wednesday, according to police.

The aircraft was flying from the capital of Port-au-Prince to the southern town of Jacmel, Pierre Belamy Samedi, police chief in the suburb Carrefour where the plane crashed shortly after takeoff, told the media.

"I saw five unmoving bodies and at least three injured people who were not in the plane," he said.

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Samedi said the pilot was taken to the hospital, but his condition was not immediately known. He said a total of five people were aboard the plane.

No further details were immediately available.

Police report that the plane was headed to the southern coastal city of Jacmel. AP

Prime Minister Ariel Henry tweeted that he was saddened by the crash and offered his sympathies to the relatives of those who died.

The incident comes nine months after a small private plane also headed to Jacmel crashed near Port-au-Prince, killing six people, including two U.S missionaries.

Earlier he said the pilot had survived, but police later clarified that the pilot was among the five dead on board the aircraft.

The crash also killed a motorbike driver and wounded five other people on the ground, according to Judge Moise Jean. All the wounded were taken to hospital.

Samedi said the plane also struck a truck carrying consumer goods.

"I am profoundly saddened, after this crash of a small plane on the Carrefour roadway which has caused deaths and injuries," Prime Minister Ariel Henry tweeted Wednesday evening.

"I offer my sympathies to the families of the victims, for whom this latest development has just brought great desolation."

Air traffic has grown substantially in Haiti over the last year, as gang violence near Port-au-Prince has blocked road connections from the capital to other parts of the country.