The World - News from April 28, 1986

Haitian troops overreacted by firing into a crowd of 10,000 marching at a memorial demonstration Saturday honoring political victims of the Duvalier family, a government spokesman said. “It is certain that there were provocateurs, but it is also certain the army overreacted,” he said. “The soldiers felt themselves threatened, and they weren’t well prepared.” Hospital officials and protest organizers put the toll at eight dead and dozens injured. The demonstration was the bloodiest since President Jean-Claude Duvalier fled into exile.