PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitians are lighting candles and offering prayers to remember relatives and neighbors who died in a catastrophic earthquake that struck near the country’s capital seven years ago.
Hairdresser Nerlande Voltaire had a Bible in hand as she attended a church service in Port-au-Prince to honor her mother, who was crushed by a building reduced to rubble by the quake.
The congregations of some Catholic churches have spilled into the streets Thursday as they sing hymns and remember the devastating events of Jan. 12, 2010.
Haiti’s interim president has presided over a subdued wreath-laying commemoration at a mass burial site.
Haiti has said more than 300,000 people died in the disaster, but the exact toll is unknown as there was no systematic effort to count bodies.