PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haiti was plunged into mourning and Carnival festivities were canceled Tuesday after at least 16 people died when a high-voltage cable hit a parade float in the capital Port-au-Prince.
Another 78 people were injured in the accident, which occurred shortly before 3:00 am (0800 GMT) as thousands watched, marring what is normally a joyful high point of the year in the impoverished Caribbean country.
Authorities cancelled the third and last day of the carnival celebrations on Tuesday and declared three days of mourning.
Several thousand people including President Michel Martelly and cabinet chief Evans Paul participated in a silent march along the carnival route to pay hommage to the victims.
Musicians silenced their instruments and dancers walked quietly -- a stark contrast to the revelry of the previous day.
Along the Champ de Mars, the parade ground not far from the presidential palace where the accident took place, the bleachers -- normally full of festive crowds -- stood quiet.
"What happened is a tragedy," Paul said.
The float -- carrying a popular rap group called the Barikad Crew -- struck a power line overhead as it made its way through the Champ de Mars, electrocuting the dancers and musicians riding on it.
The group's star singer, who goes by the name "Fantom," was struck directly by the fallen cable and was in hospital, the website Haiti Press Network said.
Some of the injured were hurt in the ensuing crush of revelers who panicked upon seeing the accident.
Family members besieged a main hospital complex in the capital to find their loved ones as doctors struggled to treat those injured by the huge electrical shock. Others went to identify the dead.
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