PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti's online media association said two reporters were killed and a number of other others injured in a gang attack Tuesday on the reopening of Port-au-Prince's largest public hospital.
Street gangs have taken over an estimated 85% of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince and compelled the closure of the General Hospital earlier this 12 months. Authorities had promised to reopen the ability on Tuesday, but as journalists gathered to cover the incident, suspected gang members opened fire in a brutal attack on Christmas Eve.
Robest Dimanche, a spokesman for the Online Media Collective, identified the dead journalists as Markenzy Nathoux and Jimmy Jean. Dimanche said an unspecified variety of reporters were also injured within the attack, which he blamed on the Viv Ansanm gang coalition.
Haiti's interim president, Leslie Voltaire, said in an address to the nation that journalists and police were among the many victims of the attack. He didn’t say what number of casualties there have been, nor did he provide a breakdown of those killed or wounded.
“I express my condolences to the victims, the national police and the journalists,” Voltaire said, promising that “this crime will not go unpunished.”
A video posted online by reporters trapped within the hospital showed what gave the impression to be two lifeless bodies of men on stretchers, their clothes covered in blood. One of the lads wore a lanyard with a press badge around his neck.
Radio Télé Métronome initially reported that seven journalists and two cops were injured. Police and officials didn’t immediately reply to requests for information concerning the attack.
Video previously posted online showed reporters contained in the constructing and no less than three people lying on the bottom, apparently injured. This video also couldn’t be immediately verified.
Johnson “Izo” André, considered Haiti's strongest gang leader and a part of a gang called Viv Ansanm that has seized control of much of Port-au-Prince, posted a video on social media claiming responsibility for took over the attack.
The video said the gang coalition didn’t approve the reopening of the hospital.
There have been attacks on journalists in Haiti before. In 2023, two local journalists were killed inside weeks of one another – radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was fatally shot in mid-April of that 12 months, while journalist Ricot Jean was found dead later that month.
In July, former Prime Minister Garry Conille visited the National University of Haiti Hospital, higher generally known as the General Hospital, after authorities took back control of it from gangs.
Gang attacks have pushed Haiti's health system to the brink of collapse, with looting, fires and the destruction of medical facilities and pharmacies within the capital. The violence has led to a rise within the variety of patients and a scarcity of resources to treat them.
Haiti's health system faces additional challenges through the rainy season, which is prone to increase the chance of water-borne diseases. Poor conditions in camps and makeshift settlements have increased the chance of diseases reminiscent of cholera. According to UNICEF, there are over 84,000 suspected cases within the country.
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