Armed men open fire on journalists during reopening of Haiti hospital | Crime News

Haitian authorities have struggled to address rise of powerful armed gangs, and accountability for violence is rare.

Armed men have opened fire on a group of journalists in Haiti who had gathered to cover the reopening of the capital’s largest public hospital.

While authorities have not offered details on casualties from the attack on Tuesday, the Reuters news agency reported that two journalists and a police officer were killed, citing a journalist who witnessed the attack and asked not to be named.

“We express our sympathy to all the victims’ families, in particular, to the PNH [Haiti’s national police] and all the journalists’ associations,” Haiti’s transitional presidential council stated in a social media post.

“We guarantee them that this act will not remain without consequences.”

The attack is the latest to roil Haiti, where continued political and economic instability have helped fuel the rise of violent armed gangs that have grown more powerful since the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise in 2021.

Law enforcement authorities on the island nation have struggled to counter the criminal groups, which have exerted control over an estimated 80 percent of the capital, Port-Au-Prince, where widespread violence has hammered civilians and disrupted vital services.

One institution forced to close in March was the General Hospital, the country’s largest public hospital. Journalists had gathered on Tuesday morning to cover the facility’s reopening when gunmen opened fire at about 11am (16:00 GMT), Reuters reported.

Government officials had convened to reopen the hospital in downtown Port-Au-Prince in July, but that event was also targeted by gunfire, which forced former Prime Minister Garry Conille to flee the scene.

An unverified video posted online on Tuesday appears to show three journalists lying wounded on the floor of the building. A recent report by the United Nations stated that only 24 percent of health facilities in the Port-Au-Prince area are operational.

Johnson “Izo” Andre, a powerful gang leader in a coalition known as Viv Ansanm, posted a video to social media on Tuesday taking credit for the attack.