The island of Haiti has declared three days of mourning for the 16 victims who lost their lives after a power line fell on a carnival float and electrocuted many of them. Seventy-eight other carnival attendees were trampled upon and injured, as they fled from the ensuing chaos, USA Today reports.
According to witnesses, someone on a float used a stick to move a power line that was in the way. When the overhead power line fell, some lucky individuals managed to jump off the float to avoid electrocution as it gave off deadly sparks, while others could not dodge it. The float was one of 16 in the procession, as thousands of Haitian revelers celebrated carnival in the capital of Port-au-Prince.
Prime Minister Evans Paul declared that the country will mourn those killed and injured for a period of three days and, in addition, he has cancelled the third and final day of the celebratory yearly event. A state funeral and vigil will also be held on Saturday for the victims of the tragedy.
It is reportedly customary in the impoverished country of about 10 million and in many other places to designate someone atop a float to move dangerously low hanging wires out-of-the-way.
Authorities are reportedly in the process of viewing footage of the incident in order to determine exactly what happened.
