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Prospects for Survivors Dim Following Haitian School Collapse


Emergency workers in Haiti are shifting focus from searching for survivors to clearing debris at the site of a school collapse that killed at least 90 people.

Officials fear the death toll will rise because many students are still missing. There has been no indication of survivors since rescuers pulled four children from the rubble Saturday morning.

Emergency workers from the United States, France and Haiti are recovering bodies and making a final check for survivors Monday before they bring in heavy equipment to move large slabs of concrete.

The church-run La Promesse, or The Promise school in Petionville, outside Port-au-Prince, collapsed Friday into a heap of cement slabs and steel rods, destroying nearby residences.

Authorities say the owner of the school, Protestant minister Fortin Augustin, has been detained and questioned.

About 700 students were enrolled at the school. Officials do not know how many were inside the building at the time of the collapse.

Residents had complained that the school did not have proper structural support, and officials say the top floor was under construction when the building caved in.

Police and United Nations peacekeepers held back angry Haitians Sunday who gathered around the site to search for missing children.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

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