Tuesday's blast in Haiti's second largest city of Cap-Haitien was the latest disaster to hit the poverty-wracked Caribbean nation, riven by gang violence and political paralysis.

The truck is believed to have flipped over after the driver lost control while swerving to avoid a motorcycle taxi. Most of the deaths occurred when passers-by rushed to collect the escaped fuel, a rare commodity amid severe fuel shortages.

Some 75 people were injured in the blast, according to authorities, and many of them were in critical condition.