PORT-AU-PRINCE (AP):

A Haitian official says that 12 people have died in a road accident outside the Caribbean nation's capital.

Nadia Lochard of Haiti's Civil Protection Office says the Tuesday night accident occurred near the eastern town of Fond Parisien after the brakes of a truck carrying carrots went out and veered off a mountainous road.

Twenty-four others were injured and taken to a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders. The victims apparently were riding in the truck, many atop the cargo.

The truck had left the south-eastern mountain village of Thiotte and was travelling to the capital of Port-au-Prince.

Lochard released details of the accident yesterday morning.