82 children dead in Haitian school collapse

A ramshackle church school collapsed in a shanty town on the outskirts of Haiti's capital on Friday, burying dozens in rubble and killing at least 50, many of them children, rescue workers said.

The three-story La Promesse school caved in while class was in session, and some of the walls and debris crushed neighboring residences in the Nerettes community near Port-au-Prince, injuring still more, civil protection service official Nadia Blachard told Haitian radio.

"There are 50 killed and 124 wounded, including 20 in serious condition," Blachard said.

Crowds of screaming and crying parents swarmed the ruins in the aftermath searching for their children. The work continued after nightfall with the help of U.N. peacekeepers, relatives and rescue services.

President Rene Preval said the poorly constructed building did not meet building standards, but the priority of authorities was to continue to hunt for those trapped under debris but still alive.

At the scene, crying and screaming parents searched desperately for their children while bodies of students lay crushed under blocks of concrete.

"It's like an earthquake," said Brazilian Maj. Gen. Carlos dos Santos Cruz, the commander for U.N. troops in Haiti.

One boy was trapped by debris that pinned his legs. He begged the rescuers to "please cut my feet off," a firefighter told Reuters.

The roads around the school were so jammed with people looking for loved ones that some of the rescuers had to be brought in by helicopter.

"My son who is 15 years old, he's dead. He's my only son," sobbed 40-year-old Josiane Dandin. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

Another woman screamed for her missing 12-year-old daughter. "I don't know if she is dead or alive," she said.