At least 30 people, many of them young, have died and dozens more are reported to have been injured after a crush at a mountaintop fortress in northern Haiti that is a popular tourist spot.

Jean Henri Petit, the head of civil protection for the country’s Nord department, said the incident took place on Saturday at Citadelle Henry – also known as Citadelle Laferrière – a large 19th-century fortress built shortly after the Caribbean country’s independence from France, which was packed with students and visitors.

He told local newspaper Le Nouvelliste that the death toll could rise due to the large number of people reported missing. Several dozen people were also injured and taken to hospital, the outlet reported.

Initial reports said visitors were crammed against a single entrance and a scuffle broke out between those trying to leave and enter the site.

Other local media reports said the gathering took place after being advertised on TikTok. There were also reports of rumours that police at the site used too much teargas to break up a fight near the citadel, which caused people to panic and triggered a crush.

The country’s culture minister, Emmanuel Menard, confirmed that 30 people had died, adding: “The injured are currently receiving the necessary medical care, and a rescue team is searching for any missing persons.”

Menard said the fortress, which was listed as a Unesco world heritage site in 1982, would remain closed to visitors until further notice.

Haiti’s prime minister’s office expressed “deep sadness” in a government statement posted on Facebook, adding the crush occurred during “a tourist activity bringing together many young people”.

The government urged citizens to “be calm and cautious” while it investigated.

“All competent authorities are fully mobilised and placed on maximum alert to provide, without delay, the necessary assistance, care and support,” it added in its statement.

The crush comes as Haiti continues to grapple with widespread violence by gangs that have massacred civilians, as well as an increasingly deadly crackdown by security forces.

Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, has also been badly hit by rising oil prices caused by the conflict in Iran. On 2 April, the government announced a 37% increase in the cost of diesel and a 29% increase in the cost of gasoline. The surge in oil prices has disrupted critical supply chains, doubled transportation costs and forced millions of undernourished people to cut back on already scarce meals.

The country has experienced various disasters in recent years, including a 2024 fuel tank explosion that killed two dozen people, another fuel tank blast in 2021 that killed 90 people, and an earthquake that left about 2,000 people dead that same year.

Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report