Hundreds of students trapped under rubble in Haiti

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan 13, 2010 / 09:39 am

The Salesian Information Agency (SIA) is reporting that an 85-year-old Salesian member of the Order, Brother Hubert Sanon, was among the victims of Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti.  A Salesian priest who was with Br. Sanon when the earthquake hit is still missing.

The report affirmed that when the earthquake hit at 4:53 p.m. local time, the two Salesians were at work.

Fr. Ducange Sylvain, who was appointed the new Superior of the Vice Province of Haiti last December, described the situation to SIA, saying, “We have been hit very hard,” referring to the situation of the Salesians.

According to Fr. Sylvain, the Salesian house of Port-Au-Prince Enam and the foundations nearby the “Saint John Bosco” Institute such as the Work of the Little Schools of Father Bonhem and the “Lakay”  were the hardest hit Salesian missions in the city.

“The Salesians from the centre are injured. Brother Sanon died under the ruins and sadly over 200 pupils are still buried there,” the priest said.

SIA also reported that another Salesian house was damaged in Carrefour-Thorland and that "the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians have suffered damage to their works in Port-au-Prince and at 'Sanit Mary D. Mazzarello' in Pétion-Ville.”