Fire Engulfs a Central Market Near Haiti’s Capital

VOA News

A major fire engulfed a central market in the hillside Petionville district above Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, late Sunday.

The cause of the fire was unclear. It came hours after polls closed for the long-delayed presidential election.

Meanwhile, Haiti’s electoral council president warned candidates to accept the official results and not make premature announcements.

Sunday’s election was a repeat of the October 2015 election, which was annulled over allegations of fraud.

On Sunday, 27 candidates ran for office. There were a number of reports of voting fraud.

The electoral council had announced in 2015 that local entrepreneur and ruling party candidate Jovenel Moise was in first place and businessman Jude Celestin was in second place among 54 contenders.

The two were to move on to a second round, but Celestin threatened to abstain, claiming fraud.

After months of protests by opposition candidates and their supporters, the government appointed a commission to investigate and new elections were called.