Another school building collapses in Haiti

Port-au-Prince, Haiti - Another school building partially collapsed Wednesday in Haiti, less than a week after a school crumbled leaving more than 90 people dead.

Eyewitnesses said a building adjoining the Grace Divine (Divine Grace) school in the Canape Vert neighbourhood of Haitian capital Port-au-Prince collapsed, falling onto the school itself.

According to preliminary reports, eight people - seven adults and one child - were injured and had to be taken to hospital.

On Friday, at least 93 people, most of them children, died in the collapse of Evangelical Promise school in Petionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince. Some 160 others were injured and many more remained missing.

Unconfirmed reports by radio station Radio Metropole said panic broke out Wednesday in a another school, in the Christ-Roy neighbourhood in the capital, because students feared that that building might also collapse.

Two students were injured when they jumped out of windows.

On Monday, Haitian President Rene Preval blamed the weakness of the state and the flouting of building regulations for last week's school collapse.

"The anarchy in the construction sector is the root of the tragedy," Preval told Radio Metropole Monday night.

The lawlessness was a result of the weakness of the state, which also caused lives to be endangered in natural catastrophes, he said.

This year, about 800 Haitians have died in tropical storms, often as a result of collapsing buildings. (dpa)

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