CNN reports that at least 12 people were killed during Haiti’s national Carnival parade early Tuesday in an accident involving an electrical shock on a float, the nation’s communications minister said.

Haitian Communications Minister Rothschild Francis Junior said, “an accident following an electrical shock happened on a parade float in Port-au-Prince at 2:48 a.m. ET Tuesday”.

The float, one of 16 in the downtown Carnival parade, was sponsored by the Haitian hip-hop group Barikad Crew. Some of the victims were instantly electrocuted in a flash of sparks, according to witnesses. Others managed to jump off, causing panic in the crowd.

“I saw the wire falling and sparks and I started running for my life,” said Natacha Saint Fleur, a 22-year-old who was near the float at the time.

Haitian President Michel Martelly said on Twitter: