Three people were killed and several others injured in a gun attack on a government hospital in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday, during a news conference announcing the hospital’s reopening. The attack took place while medical staff, police and journalists were present.
The BBC reported that two journalists and a police officer were among the dead. Pictures of the wounded inside the hospital building were circulating on social media.
The area had long been under the control of violent gangs. But the government recaptured it in July.
In a video message, Leslie Voltaire, head of Haiti’s presidential transitional council, said: “We express our condolences to the families of the victims, especially to the Haitian national police and the journalists’ association.”
“We guarantee them that appropriate measures will be taken in this incident,” he said. An interim government took power in the country in April. Six months ago, despite the deployment of an international force led by Kenyan police officers, Haitians continue to suffer the consequences of gang violence.
Gang violence has increased in Haiti since the assassination of then-President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. About 85 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is still under gang control. A United Nations report says that about 5,000 people have been killed in violence in Haiti this year and the country is now on the verge of collapse.
