Barikad Crew accident on final day of parade

On February 17, 2015, a celebration in Port-au-Prince became a source of great sorrow when a crowded float came into the contact of live high voltage power line--17 people died and 78 were injured. The accident occurred during the second day of an annual carnival festival when a musical float was passing below an overhead power line. Someone from the float used a pole to move a live power line out of the way so that the float could pass under it. A recording from the 'Amateur Video' posted on YouTube shows that the cable touched the head of a singer (Darinus) from the hip-hop band 'Barikad Crew' as it was passing near the presidential stand packed with spectators. Seven people on the float were electrocuted, and others died in the ensuing panic.

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Following the incident, the final day of the parade was cancelled; Prime Minister Evans Paul declared three days of mourning and later on that day, President Michel Martelly joined hundreds of people who gathered at the accident site. A state funeral was organized after the mourning on Saturday 21st. President Michel Martelly had expressed his "sincerest sympathies'' to the victims in a Twitter message. Sophia Martelly, the First lady visited the hospitals that were treating the injured.

It is a common practice in Haiti and elsewhere, during similar carnivals people standing atop a parade float move low hanging power lines with poles. In a similar incident on the same day, three people were killed on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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