A bus plowed into people taking part in an early morning street festival in Haiti on Sunday, killing at least 38 people and injuring 17, rescue officials say. The accident occurred around 3am in the city of Gonaives when a passenger bus first hit two people at a bus stop and then continued into a crowd of people participating in a Rara festival, an Easter season Haitian musical celebration, says Joseph Faustin, civil defense coordinator for the region. Reuters reports that authorities say the driver ran into the parade of pedestrians as he tried to flee the scene of the first crash.
Faustin says after the crash, angry festival-goers then attacked the bus and tried to burn it before police rescued the passengers aboard. The injured were being treated at a hospital in Gonaives, which is about 60 miles northwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The local police chief says the passengers and driver were taken to a police station. He says the driver has since been released and has now fled the area. Haitian President Jovenel Moise issued a statement expressing his "deep sadness following the terrible accident" and calling for "an investigation as soon as possible to shine light on this tragedy." (More Haiti stories.)
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