PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – At least three people were killed and others injured yesterday when armed men opened fire on a group of journalists gathered for a government press conference set to announce the reopening of Haiti’s largest public hospital, a witness to the attack told Reuters.
Two reporters and a police officer were killed, said a journalist at the scene who asked not to be named.
Videos from local media livestreaming the attack showed journalists huddled on the floor of the hospital lobby as a barrage of bullets flew by. Some appeared to have been hit and were bleeding.
Armed gangs in Haiti, with near-total control over capital Port-au-Prince and wide remit over the rest of the country, have targeted hospitals to show their muscle over the government, forcing most to shut down.
“What happened today is unacceptable,” said Leslie Voltaire, who heads Haiti’s transitional presidential council, in a video message.
Journalists were invited to arrive at the hospital from 8 a.m. (1300 GMT) to the press conference in the downtown area of the capital Port-au-Prince with Haiti’s new health minister. They were still awaiting the minister when shooting began around 11 a.m.
Health Minister Duckenson Lorthe Blema was installed in November in a cabinet reshuffle when former Prime Minister Garry Conille was ousted after just six months in office.
The State University of Haiti Hospital, known locally as the General Hospital, is the country’s largest public hospital but it has been closed since a March surge in gang attacks that saw former Prime Minister Ariel Henry ousted from power.
In July, authorities celebrated retaking control of the hospital with a press conference in the facility, but Conille was forced to flee alongside security officers and journalists under a flurry of gunfire.
The hospital is in downtown Port-au-Prince, a stone’s throw from the central Champ de Mars square, an area that has seen frequent gun battles and clashes between police and a city-wide alliance of gangs known as Viv Ansanm.
Gangs are estimated to control some 80% to 90% of the capital, while neighboring countries have been slow to deliver on promises of security support for the Caribbean nation.
An international mission approved last year has so far seen just a fraction of troops deploying, while Haitian calls to shore up its resources by converting it to a peacekeeping force met opposition at the U.N. Security Council.
A spokesperson for the mission, led by Kenya, told Reuters after shooting began that its personnel had not been invited to the conference and it had sent in reinforcements. The national police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
