Haiti gangs fire on journalists covering a planned hospital reopening, leaving casualties
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Suspected gang members opened fire on journalists in Haiti’s capital on Tuesday as they were covering the attempted reopening of the country’s largest hospital, wounding or killing an unknown number of people.
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Haiti’s interim president, Leslie Voltaire, said in an address to the nation that journalists and police were among the victims of the vicious Christmas Eve attack. He did not specify how many casualties there were, or give a breakdown for the dead or wounded.
“I send my sympathies to the people who were victims, the national police and the journalists,” Voltaire said, pledging “this crime is not going to go unpunished.”
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There were concerns there could be fatalities — a video posted online by the reporters trapped inside the hospital showed what appeared to be two lifeless bodies of men on stretchers, their clothes bloodied. One of the men had a lanyard with a press credential around his neck.
Radio Télé Métronome initially reported that seven journalists and two police officers were wounded. Police and officials did not immediately respond to calls for information on the attack.
Street gangs have taken over an estimated 85% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. They forced the closure of the General Hospital early this year during violence that also targeted the main international airport and Haiti’s two largest prisons.
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Authorities had pledged to reopen the facility Tuesday but as journalists gathered to cover the event, suspected gang members opened fire.
Video posted online earlier showed reporters inside the building and at least three lying on the floor, apparently wounded. That video could also not be immediately verified.
Johnson “Izo” André, considered Haiti’s most powerful gang leader and part of a gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm that has taken control of much of Port-au-Prince, posted a video on social media claiming responsibility for the attack.
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The video said the gang coalition had not authorized the hospital’s reopening.
Haiti has seen journalists targeted before. In 2023, two local journalists were killed in the space of a couple of weeks — radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was fatally shot in mid-April that year, while journalist Ricot Jean was found dead later that month.
In July, former Prime Minister Garry Conille visited the Hospital of the State University of Haiti, more widely known as the General Hospital, after authorities regained control of it from gangs.
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The hospital had been left ravaged and strewn with debris. Walls and nearby buildings were riddled with bullet holes, signaling fights between police and gangs. The hospital is across the street from the national palace, the scene of several battles in recent months.
Gang attacks have pushed Haiti’s health system to the brink of collapse with looting, setting fires, and destroying medical institutions and pharmacies in the capital. The violence has created a surge in patients and a shortage of resources to treat them.
Haiti’s health care system faces additional challenges during the rainy season, which is likely to increase the risk of water-borne diseases. Poor conditions in camps and makeshift settlements have heightened the risk of diseases like cholera, with over 84,000 suspected cases in the country, according to UNICEF.
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Suspected gang members opened fire on journalists in Haiti’s capital on Tuesday as they were covering the attempted reopening of the country’s largest hospital, wounding or killing an unknown number of people.
Haiti’s interim president, Leslie Voltaire, said in an address to the nation that journalists and police were among the victims of the vicious Christmas Eve attack. He did not specify how many casualties there were, or give a breakdown for the dead or wounded.
“I send my sympathies to the people who were victims, the national police and the journalists,” Voltaire said, pledging “this crime is not going to go unpunished.”
There were concerns there could be fatalities — a video posted online by the reporters trapped inside the hospital showed what appeared to be two lifeless bodies of men on stretchers, their clothes bloodied. One of the men had a lanyard with a press credential around his neck.
Radio Télé Métronome initially reported that seven journalists and two police officers were wounded. Police and officials did not immediately respond to calls for information on the attack.
Street gangs have taken over an estimated 85% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. They forced the closure of the General Hospital early this year during violence that also targeted the main international airport and Haiti’s two largest prisons.
Authorities had pledged to reopen the facility Tuesday but as journalists gathered to cover the event, suspected gang members opened fire.
Video posted online earlier showed reporters inside the building and at least three lying on the floor, apparently wounded. That video could also not be immediately verified.
Johnson “Izo” André, considered Haiti’s most powerful gang leader and part of a gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm that has taken control of much of Port-au-Prince, posted a video on social media claiming responsibility for the attack.
The video said the gang coalition had not authorized the hospital’s reopening.
Haiti has seen journalists targeted before. In 2023, two local journalists were killed in the space of a couple of weeks — radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was fatally shot in mid-April that year, while journalist Ricot Jean was found dead later that month.
In July, former Prime Minister Garry Conille visited the Hospital of the State University of Haiti, more widely known as the General Hospital, after authorities regained control of it from gangs.
The hospital had been left ravaged and strewn with debris. Walls and nearby buildings were riddled with bullet holes, signaling fights between police and gangs. The hospital is across the street from the national palace, the scene of several battles in recent months.
Gang attacks have pushed Haiti’s health system to the brink of collapse with looting, setting fires, and destroying medical institutions and pharmacies in the capital. The violence has created a surge in patients and a shortage of resources to treat them.
Haiti’s health care system faces additional challenges during the rainy season, which is likely to increase the risk of water-borne diseases. Poor conditions in camps and makeshift settlements have heightened the risk of diseases like cholera, with over 84,000 suspected cases in the country, according to UNICEF.
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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
