By Evens Sanon | Related Press
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti’s on-line media affiliation mentioned two reporters have been killed and several other others have been wounded in a gang assault on Tuesday on the reopening of Port-au-Prince’s greatest public hospital.
Avenue gangs have taken over an estimated 85% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and so they compelled the closure of the Normal Hospital early this yr. Authorities had pledged to reopen the ability Tuesday however as journalists gathered to cowl the occasion, suspected gang members opened fireplace in a vicious Christmas Eve assault.
Robest Dimanche, a spokesman for the On-line Media Collective, recognized the useless journalists as Markenzy Nathoux and Jimmy Jean. Dimanche mentioned an unspecified variety of reporters had additionally been wounded within the assault, which he blamed on the Viv Ansanm coalition of gangs.
Haiti’s interim president, Leslie Voltaire, mentioned in an tackle to the nation that journalists and police have been among the many victims of the assault. He didn’t specify what number of casualties there have been, or give a breakdown for the useless or wounded.
“I send my sympathies to the people who were victims, the national police and the journalists,” Voltaire mentioned, pledging “this crime is not going to go unpunished.”
A video posted on-line by the reporters trapped contained in the hospital confirmed what gave the impression to be two lifeless our bodies of males on stretchers, their garments bloodied. One of many males had a lanyard with a press credential round his neck.
Radio Télé Métronome initially reported that seven journalists and two cops have been wounded. Police and officers didn’t instantly reply to requires data on the assault.
Video posted on-line earlier confirmed reporters contained in the constructing and not less than three mendacity on the ground, apparently wounded. That video may additionally not be instantly verified.
Johnson “Izo” André, thought-about Haiti’s strongest gang chief and a part of a gang often called Viv Ansanm, which that has taken management of a lot of Port-au-Prince, posted a video on social media claiming duty for the assault.
The video mentioned the gang coalition had not approved the hospital’s reopening.
Haiti has seen journalists focused earlier than. In 2023, two native journalists have been killed within the house of a few weeks — radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was fatally shot in mid-April that yr, whereas journalist Ricot Jean was discovered useless later that month.
In July, former Prime Minister Garry Conille visited the Hospital of the State College of Haiti, extra extensively often called the Normal Hospital, after authorities regained management of it from gangs.
Gang assaults have pushed Haiti’s well being system to the brink of collapse with looting, setting fires, and destroying medical establishments and pharmacies within the capital. The violence has created a surge in sufferers and a scarcity of sources to deal with them.
Haiti’s well being care system faces extra challenges in the course of the wet season, which is prone to improve the danger of water-borne illnesses. Poor situations in camps and makeshift settlements have heightened the danger of illnesses like cholera, with over 84,000 suspected circumstances within the nation, in line with UNICEF.
