Haiti has declared three days of national mourning following a deadly stampede at the Citadelle Laferrière, a UNESCO World Heritage mountaintop fortress in northern Haiti, that killed at least 25 people and injured dozens more on Saturday. Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé announced the mourning period will begin on Tuesday and confirmed the government will cover the funeral expenses of the victims, extending his "most sincere condolences to the bereaved families" and noting that many of those killed were young people. The death toll, initially reported at 30, was revised to 25 by Emmanuel Pierre, the head of national civil protection.
The tragedy unfolded during traditional Easter festivities at the Citadelle Laferrière, a massive early 19th-century fortress built shortly after Haiti's independence from France, located near the town of Milot in the Cap-Haïtien region. Hundreds of students and visitors had gathered for an annual cultural celebration when severe overcrowding at a single entrance triggered a surge in the crowd. Municipal authorities in Cap-Haïtien described "numerous cases of asphyxiation, trampling and loss of consciousness," attributing the disaster to "deficiencies in crowd management measures." Rain on the day is believed to have worsened congestion as visitors rushed toward the exit along the fortress's narrow, steep paths. Witnesses described scenes of panic as people fell and were crushed underfoot.
Around 30 people remained hospitalised on Sunday, while others were still unaccounted for. The Haitian National Police opened a formal investigation into the causes of the disaster, and autopsies were under way by Sunday. Some victims' bodies remained at the site into the following day. In one harrowing account, a man named Donaldson Jean sobbed as he carried the body of his sister, who had earned her place on a school field trip for top-performing students.
The disaster adds to a long series of crises afflicting Haiti, a Caribbean nation of roughly 12 million people that has faced gang violence, political instability, and repeated natural and industrial disasters in recent years — including a 2021 earthquake that killed around 2,000 people and fuel tank explosions in 2021 and 2024. The Brazilian government, which has historical ties to Haiti through its leadership of a United Nations stabilisation mission in the 2000s and 2010s, said it received the news "with deep sorrow" and expressed solidarity with the Haitian people.
The incident has raised urgent questions about crowd management at large public gatherings in Haiti, particularly at heritage sites that draw significant visitor numbers. Authorities urged the public to avoid spreading rumours and to cooperate with ongoing rescue and recovery operations.