Haitian School Toll Hits 90; Owner Arrested

Little structural steel or cement was used in building, according to authorities
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 9, 2008 8:17 AM CST
Haitian School Toll Hits 90; Owner Arrested
A fireman and member of USAID digs for survivors at La Promesse school.   (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

The owner of a collapsed Haitian school was detained by police yesterday as the death toll in the flattened building hit 90. The Protestant minister who owns the College La Promesse Evangelique surrendered to authorities yesterday, reports CNN. He has not yet been charged with a crime. Authorities said the building had been erected with little structural steel or cement to hold together its concrete blocks, according to Reuters.

Rescue workers, meanwhile, yesterday unearthed a classroom of dead children and their teacher. Workers continued to struggle desperately to save any survivors buried beneath the rubble of the three-story school. Some 700 children were enrolled when the school collapsed Friday while classes were in session.
(More Haiti stories.)

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