Haiti school owner arrested as death toll rises

Haitian police have arrested the owner of a school that collapsed on Friday as the death toll rose above 90.

Haitian police have arrested the owner of a school that collapsed on Friday as the death toll rose above 90.

A police spokesman said Fortin Augustin, the preacher who owns and built College La Promesse, was arrested yesterday and charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Mr Augustin is being held at a police station in Port-au-Prince. It is not clear how many counts he faces or when he is expected to stand trial.

Rescue crews from around the world are continuing the search for survivors of the collapse. At least 35 students, 13 girls and 22 boys, were pulled from the rubble alive overnight.

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At least 150 people have been injured in the collapse of the three-story concrete building, and the hillside structure also destroyed two houses as it fell.

President Rene Preval, who was at the scene on Saturday, said searchers dropped water and biscuits through gaps in the rubble overnight to children and focused their efforts on reaching them.

"Last night we were sure there were still seven children alive. We got one of them but we have lost all signs of the other six being alive," Mr Preval said. "Some say they might be sleeping. Others believe they have died."

As he spoke, a rescue worker told him a room full of new victims, mostly students, had been discovered. Officials said at least 21 bodies were in the room.

The disaster struck as the poorest country in the Americas struggled to recover from four tropical storms and hurricanes that killed more than 800 people and destroyed 60 per cent of its crops in August and September.

Agencies