HAITI-TRAGEDY-Two killed in sand quarry mishap

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 19, CMC – Rescue teams Friday said they had found the bodies of two men killed after a sandpit collapsed on them on Thursday.
The incident occurred less than 72 hours after the authorities had announced that sand mining operations had been prohibited in the Morne à Cabri area because “of the anarchic exploitation” of sand quarries.
The National Police of Haiti (PNH), firefighters and volunteers of the Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC) said they had recovered the two bodies and that the search is continuing for a third man after the operations had been suspended due to the high risk of further rockfall
Earlier this week, the Ministry of the Environment, warned that because of the dangers presented “by the anarchic exploitation of sand quarries at the Morne à Cabri and alarmed by the significant risk that this situation poses to the environment” it had prohibited san mining operations as of January 15.
It said the measure was also taken to preserve the roads and the high voltage pylons that supply the capital, Port-au-Prince, with electricity.
“Pending the holding of a meeting between the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Public Works, Bureau of Mines and Energy with the sand operators for the definition of a credible alternative, the Direction of the Agency National Protected Areas (ANAP) has been instructed to use the Protected Areas Security Brigade (BSAP) to protect the Morne à Cabri and this in close cooperation with the judicial authorities,” the statement noted.