Following the death of a powerful gang leader, an increase in gang violence erupted in Haiti’s capital, resulting in ongoing gun battles that led to the evacuation of patients from a local hospital.
Centre Hospitalier Fontaine, located in Port-au-Prince’s Cite Soleil neighborhood, had to evacuate all patients as gunshots rang out nearby and gang members set fires in the area.
According to hospital staff, personnel carefully carried newborns, including those in incubators connected to oxygen concentrators, to safety as bullets were shot at a glass door of the hospital near the maternity ward.
Dr. Jean-Baptiste Loubents stated, “We decided that in such a situation we needed to evacuate the patients.”
A director of the hospital confirmed the evacuation of 27 patients and 19 children from the facility’s onsite daycare center on Wednesday.
The surge in violence followed the death of local gang leader Iscar Andris, a founder of the notorious G9 gang alliance, which has been in conflict with rival GPep in recent years.
The G9 alliance is now led by Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, who was sanctioned by the U.N. in October.
Operations at the Varreux port terminal, including the distribution of fuel, were temporarily suspended due to the ongoing violence.
Haiti has been facing growing instability and gang violence since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021.
In response, the U.N. Security Council authorized the deployment of a multinational police force to Haiti to support the local authorities, but the fate of the mission is uncertain due to resistance from its proposed leader Kenya.
(Reporting by Harold Isaac; Additional reporting by Octavio Jones; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Diane Craft)
