Results tagged “haiti”

A Queens Village mother and grandmother have been charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child after permanently scarring a six-year-old girl in a Voodoo ritual where they engulfed her in flames. 29-year-old Marie Lauradin and 70-year-old Sylvenie Thessier are accused of pouring rum both onto the head of young Frantzcia Saintil and in a circle around her and then lighting both on fire. After performing the "Loa" ritual, the pair doused the girl in ice cold water and put her to bed. Lauradin, a recent Haitian immigrant, and her mother were allegedly helped by a friend named "Sketch," who has not been charged. The Daily News reports, "Lauradin initially claimed she was boiling rice in a pot when the girl 'startled' her, causing her to spill the scalding water on her." She could face up to 25 years if convicted.

Dozens of children have died in Haiti after a school collapsed near Port-au-Prince, the nation's capital. The death toll is now reported to be over 80 and rapidly approaching 100 . The collapse took place around 10 a.m. yesterday morning in a school with more than 700 students of ages ranging from 10 to 20. A journalist with the Haiti Press Network reported that more than 200 students were still trapped in the rubble as of midnight last night and another 200 have been treated by medical staff in the area. However two of the three nearby hospitals have been shut down due to worker strikes.

Afternoon diners at the Indus Vally Indian restaurant saw their curry spiced up with some shattered glass Saturday when an SUV bearing a Haitian senator plowed into the enclosed patio after being clipped by a cab. Seven passengers from the two vehicles were treated for minor injuries at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, and no one in the restaurant was hurt. Waiter Kabin Hamal told the Daily News, "All the glass came flying. People were hiding under the tables." A hole had to be cut into the roof of the SUV in order to remove the senator—in town to raise money for hurricane relief—and her entourage. A produce seller across the street described the scene to the Columbia Spectator: "I heard some screeching, and then I saw the car turn really slowly into the restaurant. The glass just exploded out of the wall." Hamal added that two diners who were seated where the SUV crashed had vacated their table "like one minute before."

American Airlines refuted a family's claims that a Brooklyn woman died because of faulty equipment and attention. The airline's spokesman said, "American Airlines, after investigation, has determined that oxygen was administered on the aircraft, and it was working."

On Friday, a woman traveling from Haiti to New York City died on the American Airlines flight. Her cousin say the crew initially refused to give her oxygen and that when they did, the oxygen tanks were empty and the defibrillator wasn't working.