Armed men open fire on journalists during reopening of Haiti hospital. crime news
Haitian authorities have struggled to address the rise of powerful armed gangs, and accountability for the violence remains rare.
Armed men in Haiti opened fire on a group of journalists who had gathered to cover the re-opening of the capital’s largest public hospital.
Although authorities have not provided details on the number of casualties in Tuesday’s attack, Reuters news agency, citing a journalist who witnessed the attack and spoke on condition of anonymity, reported that two journalists and a police officer were killed. .
“We express our sympathies to the families of all the victims, especially the PNH (Haiti’s National Police) and all journalist associations,” Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council said in a social media post.
“We guarantee them that this act will not go without consequences.”
The attack is the latest to roil Haiti, where persistent political and economic instability has helped fuel the rise of violent armed gangs that have grown more powerful since the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise in 2021.
Law enforcement officials in the island nation have struggled to combat criminal groups that have taken control of an estimated 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince, where widespread violence has rocked civilians and disrupted vital services. Have done.
One institution forced to close in March was the General Hospital, the country’s largest public hospital. Journalists had gathered to cover the reopening of the facility on Tuesday morning when the gunmen began firing around 11 a.m. (16:00 GMT), Reuters reported.
Government officials had called for a hospital reopening meeting in downtown Port-au-Prince in July, but that event was also hit by gunfire, forcing former Prime Minister Gary Connelly to flee the scene.
An unverified video posted online on Tuesday showed three journalists lying injured on the floor of the building. A recent UN report said only 24 percent of health facilities in the Port-au-Prince region are operational.
Johnson “Izzo” Andre, a powerful gang leader from the alliance known as Viv Ansnam, posted a video on social media on Tuesday, taking credit for the attack.
