Death Toll Climbs in Haiti School Collapse

(08 Nov 08 - RV) The death toll rose to at least 75 today in the collapse of a church school in Haiti when rescue workers uncovered a room with 17 dead, many of them children.


Relief efforts continued through the night in a shanty town on the outskirts of the Haitian capital to search for survivors in the rubble of the three-story La Promesse school, which caved in yesterday while class was in session.
At least 124 people were injured. Officials said there were 700 children enrolled at the school but it was unknown how many were in the building when it collapsed.

The cause of the collapse is currently under investigation. But Rob Drouen, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Haiti, told us that it may have to do with the increased number of people in the building to celebrate a special holiday.