4 children killed in Haiti school collapse

About 200 children were in the school at midday on Monday when the collapse occurred.

Al Jazeera's Todd Baer reporting from the scene said rescuers believe a landslide may have caused a boulder from a nearby hill to crash down onto the roof of one of the classrooms.

He said there had been heavy rains and flooding in the area that could have loosened the soil in the surrounding hills.

Ambulances took several injured children to nearby hospitals, while rescue workers were combing through the rubble looking for any other casualties who may be trapped.

UN peacekeepers and members of the US coast guard were helping with the rescue effort.

Some reports have suggested a small earthquake, possibly an aftershock from last month's deadly magnitude 7 earthquake, may have caused the landslide.

Cap-Haitien is about 130km north of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, where more than 200,000 people are thought to have died in the January quake.

Schools in the north of Haiti reopened last week, although they remain closed in the capital.