Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan 16, 2010 / 11:03 am
This week Father Ducange Sylvian, the Salesians' superior in Haiti, described the tragedy the country's Salesians are facing following the earthquake that devastated the country on Tuesday. He noted that one brother is missing, students are trapped under a collapsed school and a Salesian nun has been hospitalized.
The Salesian headquarters in Rome is mobilizing aid to help earthquake victims in Haiti.
According to Fr. Sylvian, 200 students are trapped beneath the rubble of the Salesian Don Bosco school, one of the two Salesian facilities receiving the most damage. Likewise, Father Sylvian continued, the formation house “has also suffered significant damage.” A section of the house, as well as the reception center “have been demolished.”
He continued, “The houses of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Port-Au-Prince and Petion-Ville have also suffered damage. Right now, one Salesian nun is recovering at the hospital,” the superior said.
Missing are two Salesian university students and one brother, the 85-year old Fr. Hubert Sanon.