Haitians Riot, Blame UN Troops for Cholera

Fecal borne disease blamed on support troops.

Protesters who hold Nepalese U.N. peacekeepers responsible for a deadly outbreak of cholera that has killed 1,000 in three weeks threw stones and threatened to set fire to a base in the country’s second-largest city Monday, Haitian radio and eyewitnesses reported.

The protesters also blame the unit for the death of a Haitian youth at the base in August.

Demonstrations began in Cap-Haitien about 6 a.m. local time and within hours paralyzed much of the northern port city, national television reporter Johnny Joseph told The Associated Press by phone. An AP television cameraman trying to reach the area was repelled late Monday by protesters throwing rocks and bottles from a barricade.

“The whole city is blocked, businesses and schools have closed, cars have been burned. It’s chaos here,” a local businessman in Cap-Haitien, Georgesmain Prophete, told Reuters. There were no immediate details of any casualties.

Story: Haiti cholera toll tops 900 with six provinces affected

2010-11-18