Haiti’s online media association said two reporters were killed and several others injured in a suspected gang attack Tuesday at 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 was destroyed, forcing the closure of the General Hospital earlier this year. Authorities had promised to reopen the facility 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 number of reporters were also injured in the attack, which he blamed on the Viv Ansanm gang coalition.
Odelyn Joseph / AP
Haiti Interim President Leslie Voltaire said in an address to the nation that journalists and police were among the victims of the attack. He did not say how many casualties there were, 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 in the hospital showed what appeared to be two lifeless bodies of men on stretchers, their clothes covered in blood. One of the men wore a lanyard with a press badge around his neck.
Radio Télé Métronome initially reported that seven journalists and two police officers were injured. Police and officials did not immediately respond to requests for information about the attack.
street gangs forced the closure of the General Hospital earlier this year amid violence that also targeted Haiti’s main international airport and two largest prisons. The Federal Aviation Administration suspended last month U.S. airlines have stopped flying to Haiti after gangs shot at three planes arriving or departing Port-au-Prince.
Authorities had promised to reopen the facility on Tuesday, but as journalists gathered to cover the incident, suspected gang members opened fire.
Video previously posted online showed reporters inside the building and at least three people lying on the ground, apparently injured. This video also could not be immediately verified.
Johnson “Izo” André, considered Haiti’s most powerful gang leader and 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 did not approve the reopening of the hospital.
There have been attacks on journalists in Haiti before. In 2023, two local journalists were killed within weeks of each other – radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was fatally shot in mid-April of that year, while journalist Ricot Jean was found dead later that month.
In July, former prime minister Garry Conille visited the State University of Haiti hospital, better known as the General Hospital, after authorities took back control of it from gangs.
The hospital was devastated and littered with rubble. Walls and surrounding buildings were riddled with bullet holes, indicating fighting between police and gangs. The hospital is opposite the National Palace, which has been the scene of several battles in recent months.
Gang attacks have pushed Haiti’s health system to the brink of collapse, with looting, fires and the destruction of medical facilities and pharmacies in the capital. The violence has led to an increase in the number of patients and a lack of resources to treat them.
Haiti’s health 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 increased the risk of diseases such as cholera. According to UNICEF, there are over 84,000 suspected cases in the country.
