Deadliest Roads | Haiti | Free Documentary

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] before they take to the road ayesha n--'s have a little saying courage courage that is to get into the ancient minibuses or converted pickups they're worn out suspensions mean the conditions on the roads are fully felt by the passengers the longer journeys they are allegedly luxury buses fourth don't forget to fix the radiator so the engine gets more ventilation and after grease the wheels and make sure the nuts are tightened okay okay Brunell box out his orders in creole a mix of African dialects and French inherited after two centuries of colonization the country has virtually no public transport service so most a private and even they function with minimum resources this company buys old American school buses and transforms them [Music] it's a luxury service we want our passengers to travel in comfort a bus not a truck sit back up mule it's why we don't carry coal or goats other animals we only take luggage sell more valid oh you know goats pee everywhere even all over the passengers and we can't have that happening [Music] most of the buses have long since clocked over a million kilometers Brunel though aims to get another million or so out of them [Music] they are due to depart at dawn the next day hi t used to be known as the pearl of the Caribbean but dictatorships hurricanes and earthquakes in particular the one in 2010 in which over 1 million people lost their homes have earned it another name a teaser damned the nation is still struggling to recover its economy is virtually at a standstill [Music] of the 4000 kilometers of rows in Haiti 90% are in very poor condition my family always worries when I travel through the mountains oh my god I feel so sick and I'm tired those with little means travel on the dumpling oh it's too hot I'll faint patient's are born fighters in 1804 their country was the first to throw off the shackles of slavery sometimes gold is the incentive whether it's yellow or white a transport remains a problem a lot of drivers won't take my salt they say it's too heavy and you'll ruin the engine along with its fighting spirit high tea also depends on its people's remarkable love of life and it's voodoo gods to get back on its feet given the conditions on the road it's probably best to be seated before departure it's a free-for-all [Applause] the unlucky ones will spend close to eight hours standing assuming all goes well Brunell the chief mechanic is the bus's guardian angel [Music] in Haiti the most vital instrument on board is the horn there are no road signs or directions on the roads and the horn is the only way to avoid accidents on a road that once you head out into the countryside rapidly deteriorates the first 150 kilometers as far as Gonaives are well as felted the last 80 are a mixture of dirt pebbles and sand [Music] [Applause] [Music] no the road is really no good but we'll try and avoid accidents and make it on time thing is not enough to have any breakdowns [Music] clone L has been using this attractive yet occasionally deadly Road for four years [Music] this is a hot pot and I've already got some problems each time the truck risks breaking down and once again the road wins Norse happening are you stopping the old engine has lost power and clone L has stalled close the door keep everyone inside you need to know the engine very well to get it running again put a stone under this wheel value Oh No okay go ahead try and start okay [Applause] [Music] there is no railway to the north of the island and bus fares have been going up for years [Music] fifteen euros the trip costs 15 euros yes it's expensive class there's nothing to eat or drink so I don't have a choice daylight robbery you could take the plane but that'll cost you 90 euros and that's a ripoff turn [Music] fifteen euros each weigh an average weekly salary in Haiti and the journey is uncomfortable it's really bumpy it's too hot is horrible riding on the roof costs half as much but is half as comfortable not that it's particularly restful down below by the time you arrive some part of your body is always aching you're tired and it takes 2 or 3 days to recover it's because of the poor roads the shaking doesn't just rattle the humans it also does the engine little good look there's a broken-down truck is usually the engine that has problems but they tires often burst as well although any garages on the way know they're a long way away yeah that one stops as well [Music] and another one it's a motorcycle taxi one of the cheapest ways of getting around but with three people on top of two wheels that the tires don't hold up well in these kind of roads how long have you been pumping for about 20 minutes I ran over a stone and got a flat now that should do it [Music] in Haiti to get by is to survive in this makeshift garage run by an orphan of the 2010 earthquake the youngster has his own ingenious system to fix inner tubes I scratch the rubber we scratch it scratch it to give it a better grip when I glue another piece onto it to block the hole it's for my bicycle I got a flat tire I began seven years ago and I've been doing it ever since the boys talent lies in how he repairs the tires glue can be too expensive or for quality so he's made his own machine as a substitute the heat makes the pieces of rubber fuse together why don't you just use glue we have some but it's not much use if you use glue the owner will soon be back with the same problem you thought up this method why did I use my brains then I gave everyone the idea hey but the money we make is for uniforms and supplies for school listen Ally Oliver teeny foreign ten children in the country live in abject poverty hunga forces many to take risks [Music] [Music] they Ronon try and grab the trucks I I slowed down to avoid accidents I tell them not to reach out that it's dangerous now sometimes the kids get run over they're not many jobs for their parents just finding something to eat is a challenge the children are forced to beg to the trucks that pass by please give me something they say they have parents but very few have jobs there's no water no culture nothing they're forced to beg they have to [Music] three quarters of Haitians have to live on the equivalent of just two euros a day on an island where 200 years ago high principles brought an end to slavery today's situation forces people to work their entire lives Wow this would make charcoal from it the wood is cut up and it's piled up and then covered with some earth and then we put straw on top and set fire to it charcoal is sold in port-au-prince or in st. Martin doula I saw it for about 10 euros I think soon there won't be enough trees left I don't know what else I would do Joseph is 65 years old and for 40 years has been chopping wood like most of the population of Haiti charcoal is the only source of fuel for cooking without any other source of power some 98% of Haiti's forests have disappeared [Music] I'm disappointed there's not much charcoal this time I'll have to sell it for just five euros okay let's go [Applause] 20 kilos of charcoal that after five kilometers on foot under a boiling Sun will soon seem three times as heavy for the elderly man like most of the locals here Josef will sell the charcoal to a wholesaler who visits the village twice a week [Music] which tea bags in properly so they don't shake about on the journey miquellee the coal merchant cannot afford his own truck so he rents one and needs to make a profit around back here if he needs to squash them down so we can put on as many as we can it's quite normal to do this it also means the truck will be more stable that's why I asked him to jump on them to pack them down see I can get 300 bags on but I think I'll have just 250 there just isn't enough of the good quality stuff because what the for visually mati in addition to the charcoal we sometimes take food and passengers if you have one too busty getting lib when the buses are full it's the only way to get about so we're the only alternative for many people Daniel 90% of the island is Christian but time hasn't erased the ancient gods prepare a Fire's wrap for each journey I call on the voodoo spirits for the road they just saw failed Rafael and Emile - like it's because whatever you need to do you need to do it in the light not in the dark I need God to be with me on the journey that way everything will go well on his altar a cocktail of Catholicism and the Voodoo beliefs that arrived with the African slaves a mixture of faith and magic and Jung fear I perfume you the spirits travel with me on my journey if I return I'll cover you with more nice smells and here's something to drink as well Tsukasa what's in it see these anise cherry pineapple cinnamon and ROM the table is for good not for evil Micheli takes four passengers as well as the charcoal go at the back on top of the charcoal I'll go in front climb on [Applause] their destination is gone Yves 80 kilometers of poor roads lie ahead it can sometimes take two days laughs look there's an animal on the road it's dangerous like when the animals owner isn't there to to keep it off the roads then the drivers little chance of avoiding dangerous go Marc its owner isn't here you have to slow down and it's the brakes aren't good you can't stop so an accident is inevitable [Applause] [Applause] the dangers seem to increase with each passing kilometer [Applause] earth and sand finally give way to a stony track filled with sharp rocks what because of the rocks I try and stick to this side of the trial was badly undone the stones also get stuck in the wheels the rocks could cost makayley the equivalent of 4 months salary a new tire cost about 600 euros and given the state of the roads any poor driving and bang the tie might burst and your money's gone at the other end of the track the bus passengers and Brunel the mechanic know all about it you have to advance go forward how'd it forward [Applause] howdy [Applause] but they forgot you I have two spare wheel down [Music] that'll do it we're lifting the truck you see Brunel uses a normal car jack as the one that came with the truck vanished a long time ago will it withstand the weight though physical work spare tire is up on the roof I'll put the new one on after we remove the flat despite all the bumps the heat and the endless stops no one is complaining although there's some resentment brewing amongst the passengers I'm a saleswoman I make this trip often there and back I do this four or five times a month once it took two days to get there how can we work in such conditions I'm 36 and I've been traveling this road for 10 years and it's always been bad okay we can go now they left port-au-prince five hours ago and the trip is far from over [Applause] along the track traffic is moving at a snail's pace I'm always in first or second gear at least it stops you speeding you can't drive normally this rate I feel everyone's asleep you can't hurry on this road Haiti means the lands of high mountains even if the highest is just 2,600 meters the ravines however are deep enough to swallow any vehicle and its driver there's a curve called the corn Bend there was this fellow who was driving along this road for the first time and he was transporting corn he was meant to take it to bombard aa palace and he'd taken his son with him to show him the town the curve there was this accident his child was killed that's why it's known as the corn Bend and there's still many trucks I have accidents here this is the : Bend it's a hairpin turn coming out of the corn bend there's something makayley had been afraid of we're loaded up and we're going downhill so we can't go backwards he can he has to let us through [Applause] the passengers are far more concerned about the heat than the ravines with temperatures of 45 degrees centigrade they are slowly being roasted I'll faint them and just rot away in the Sun it's the only way I can make this trip though well why don't you take the bus why I don't have enough money to do that well what do you pay for this 8 euros [Music] the dreadful roads not only tire the passengers but also paralyzed the nation economically in the salt marshes the women faced yet more hardships harvesting salt brings in little money work is so exhausting that it's mainly the men who carry it out and [Music] inexplicably the truck drivers refused to go to the lot of drivers who won't take my salt heavy and they're afraid it might damage their vehicles and then the no real roads in this region which makes it even harder to sell as the only way they can trade their produce is to take it to town using pack animals it's a two-day forced march these women earn just enough to feed their families one ton of salt brings in barely 24 euros [Music] from there marsh they can see the buses and trucks passing in the distance almost taunting him [Music] [Music] in the mountains makayley and his charcoal truck crossed paths with Brunel and his 60 passengers [Music] [Music] up in the mountains it's scary there are ravines on both sides left and right obviously it's scary my family always worries about me when I'm going through the mountains [Music] the roads are bad so I think about accidents and then not arriving on time [Music] the condition of the roads is no coincidence Haiti easily tops the list of the most corrupt countries in the Americas all right god it hurts I'm exhausted oh it's awful and the road is no good here the politicians just pull their usual scams they take money for themselves and their families but do nothing for us [Music] the ancient suspension has got the better of the passengers and their luggage [Music] driver stop stop something's happening what's happening up there Oh No look something's fallen so be careful with the luggage be careful look something's fallen off [Applause] Brunel is cross with the passengers on top they're only paying half fare and they could at least be more careful doesn't happen often we can soon start again I think it's the vibrations that caused it barely one hour later and it's the engines turn to show signs of fatigue its overheating and inside the temperature begins to rise too without air-conditioning crammed in together the heat soon reaches 40 degrees a final bump and the tension erupts those in the back take it out on Brunel and his ancient bus [Applause] why you throwing the bottle of water like that rude I don't know who threw that bottle but it's a really bad thing to do you should go back to school I'm shocked you're a disgrace come throw things in a truck full of people whoever did that is a real hooligan and I won't have it I won't have it driver come on let's go again [Applause] [Music] to cool things down Brunel decides to pull up at one of the rare service stops on the journey who would like something to eat 20 some teams only 20 some teams we always try and sell something every time the bus stops now what are you selling their fried fish and bananas there's just about time to swallow a few mouthfuls and Burnell calls everyone back on board and once again peace has returned [Music] [Music] [Music] luckily was still only one piece thank God in fact the journey was completed in just 12 hours quite an achievement by Brunel and his driver [Music] after 48 hours they will head back to Porter prance [Music] the beach had mold st. Nicholas's where Christopher Columbus and the Spanish first landed in 1492 Haiti was soon settled and stripped of its natural resources in the northwest of the island are the like way gold mines black way may look like an ordinary village but below ground it is riddled with holes and tunnels come on faster come on at all times of the day the search is on for gold 20 meters down on homemade ladders [Music] flexibility is a plus as most of the galleries are barely 1 meter high [Music] you have to get down on all fours to get through these it's very narrow no this is good I'm pleased this looks promising give me a bag every swing of the pickaxe could bring riches of also death the galleries are not shored up and could collapse at any moment underground it's 40 degrees and the miners have to come up for air at least every two hours that's where the gold is jean-francois is the owner of this mine work starts at 5:00 a.m. and we finished it about 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 or even 10:00 at night even midnight sometimes again no we're not tired we're hungry would come up to eternal let me go back down what does gold mean to you it means we can pay for the school for the house buy food everything we need really jean-francois pays his miners by the bag depending on how hard they've worked Eliot six bags for you right three for you and three for you as well ones here's a minor dig you can easily fill up at least one bag but then if there's no gold you've wasted the whole day you've worked for nothing but you gotta be really unlucky to find nothing at all as in the salt marshes the most thankless tasks are left to the women who work just as much as the men Jayma arrives with what her husband has excavated oh my back they're nice enough SiO bending over and getting up again is ruined my back making enough to live on is hard there's a lot of poverty here for us and our children you see we sifted once and then do it again just to make sure we keep looking and looking [Music] later in the day the youngsters come to lend a hand how old are you me I'm 17 how old are you I'm 10 me I'm 14 you do this every day when there's no school we come here to work it's not that we like what we're doing but there isn't much choice their dream is to find a nugget but mostly what they find is this it's gold look it's really more than just a flake or two it's not easy to find these it's difficult how does it feel to have found some gold I feel happy when it happens gemma is in a good mood for once as she's offered to sell her gold once a week a merchant buys the gold the miners have found Jayma hopes to get a good price and buy some animals of the market I've got some gold for you you tell me how much it's worth four days hard work in this tissue little bit wet you should let it dry first dust the impurities have to be removed first 0.2 grams it's not worth much I can buy if you want how much 3 euros that's not enough you're not happy well we'll keep at it we'll keep digging so we'll have a lot to sell later 0.2 grams of gold every 4 days is about average for Jayma and of that rate it will take her 14 years to find a kilo of gold it's not very clean the water even the mine owners like jean francois and barely enough to get by the water hole is the communal bath washes here we come here even if we finish at midnight in the morning - even Jean Francois is only luxury as the kitchen dinner is almost ready even if it's been hastily thrown together with odds and ends it's still an extra room his wife cooks the same meal every day split pea soup and rice I'm afraid for him sometime down in the mind but I'm resigned it's way he has to make his living I would like him to do something else whatever sandbag never found any other work ethic if there was easier work I'd do it jean-francois has seven children and hopes at least one will not be doomed to work down the mines [Music] the rainy season has come late this year [Music] but for weeks the weather has never been as threatening Mikael ian is charcoal have been on the road for over six hours there's another 20 kilometers to go and it's probably the hardest stretch when it rains it becomes very difficult to drive on these dirt tracks the trucks can easily slide or even get stuck in the mud up on the roof the passengers are trying to keep dry under an old tarpaulin full of holes yeah that'll do oh we can put up with this cuz we're brave how long has it been since it rained Oh long time by how long nine months yes nine months well oh you know whether you're underneath the tarpaulin or not we just we all get soaked just the same in all of the Americas Haiti is one of the islands most affected by natural catastrophes each year about 12 tropical storms leave a trail of destruction and then there are the hurricanes and cyclones [Music] look there's some cars that have stopped up in front [Music] the cars can't get through they're not powerful enough when it rains like this the floods can sweep people away their motorcycles and even small cars go on go ahead mckameys voodoo prayers seem to have worked and he arrives and Gonaives without further trouble we left at midday then we arrived at 7:00 p.m. it took seven hours I'm tired of course but the good Lord kept me safe and sound so I'm happy even if the locals call it Haiti the Damned they retain their incredible will to live [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 1,515,110

Rating: 4.8150134 out of 5

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, most dangerous roads, most dangerous journeys, worlds most dangerous roads, worlds most dangerous journeys, deadliest roads, deadliest roads in the world, dicing with death, deadliest journeys, dicing with death haiti, most dangerous roads haiti, deadliest roads haiti, dangerous haiti, deadliest journeys haiti, haiti

Id: DuiHZ4Y9r7o

Length: 50min 18sec (3018 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 18 2020