LES CAYES, Haiti, Oct. 16 (UPI) — An angry mob in Haiti looted aid trucks Saturday as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was visiting the island to observe the devastation left by Hurricane Matthew. The hurricane killed 900 people.
The skirmish broke out before Ban’s arrival at the U.N. base in Les Cayes. The trucks looted were carrying food. The U.N. police force fired teargas to restore order.
A World Health Organization coordinator said two containers carrying supplies from the World Food Program also were looted, VOAnews.com reported.
Ban urged other countries to donate as much as they could, BBC reported.
Humanitarian agencies have said that more than 1.4 million people need help in Haiti. In addition to the destruction left by the hurricane, there are growing fears of cholera. Already, spikes in cases of the waterborne disease have been reported in the southwest parts of the island nation.
Despite the looting, Ban was touched by the devastation in Haiti. “I met so many displaced persons, young people, women who were pregnant and sick people. It was heartbreaking,” the secretary-general said after a visit to an emergency shelter for families left with no homes after Matthew’s winds and rain pummeled the island.
More than 175,000 people lost their homes and what little farmland was left on the southwest portion of the island.
“We will mobilize all the resources to help you,” Ban told those suffering the hurricane’s aftermath. “Stay strong.”
Ban left Haiti for Equador late Saturday.
