At least 16 die in Haiti Carnival accident

John Bacon | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption At least 18 dead, dozens injured after Carnival accident in Port-au-Prince At least 18 people were killed in Port-au-Prince overnight when a parade float in Haiti's Carnival celebration ran into electrical wires. Rough Cut (no reporter narration). Video provided by Reuters

A raucous Mardi Gras parade that packed the streets with thousands of revelers in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince ended in tragedy Tuesday when a high-voltage wire hit a float. At least 16 people died in the ensuing panic.

Prime Minister Evans Paul, who declared national days of mourning through Saturday, put the number of dead at 16. Emergency officials said the death toll might be higher. Scores of people were injured, many trampled amid the panic.

The float, packed with members of the Barikad Crew and their fans, had just passed the viewing stand for Haitian President Michel Martelly when it hit a low-hanging power line, according to multiple media reports.

Band manager Youri Chevry told the Miami Herald that Crew singer Fantom "thought he had cleared the power line. Our float was high and he was standing up. He was talking and from the video footage I saw, his head hit the power line."

Chevry told the Herald that Fantom was in stable condition — and said physicians were surprised that the singer didn't suffer a heart attack or die after coming in contact with the power line.

A state funeral for the victims was scheduled for Saturday in the impoverished nation of 10 million.

Joel Desire, a physician at General Hospital, told the Associated Press that most of those killed appeared to have been trampled to death as the crowd surged away from the Carnival float, one of 16 in the downtown parade.

"I saw the wire falling and sparks and I started running for my life," Natacha Saint Fleur, 22, who was near the float, told AP.

Nadia Lochard, coordinator for the Department of Civil Protection, told the Herald that officials were checking with hospitals to find out how many people were killed or injured. She told the newspaper that authorities are reviewing video footage to find out what exactly caused the accident.

In Brazil, a similar accident electrocuted three revelers early Tuesday when their Carnival float struck a power line on the northern outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

Besides the deaths, at least one other person was taken to a hospital and three more were treated at the scene in Nova Iguacu, the Light power company said.