The main public hospital in the city, Port-au-Prince, was the target of a violent gang attack, which led to the removal of Haiti’s health minister.
According to a statement released Thursday afternoon, Haiti’s transitional council designated Justice Minister Patrick Pelissier as the country’s acting health minister until Duckenson Lorthe, the departing minister, is replaced.
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Gang members recently broke into the General Hospital and opened fire on reporters covering the facility’s reopening, killing two of them as well as a police officer. Among the worst assaults on Haitian media in recent history was this one. There were seven additional journalists injured.
The health ministry had welcomed media to the hospital, but there wasn’t much protection at the location, according to photographer Jean Feguens Regala, who escaped the attack.
Regala stated, “The fact that the minister of health invited us, you feel that preparations have been made already.” Adding, “When we made contact with a police unit, the police told us they were not aware of the event.”
For unspecified reasons, the health minister did not attend the function.
Johnson “Izo” André, a member of the Viv Ansanm gang, which has taken over most of Port-au-Prince, is regarded as Haiti’s most powerful gang boss. He released a video on social media shortly after the incident, claiming credit for it.
According to the video, the hospital’s reopening was not approved by the gang alliance.
With planned gang assaults on jails, police stations, and the main international airport paralyzing the nation’s capital and causing an unprecedented crisis, gang violence in Haiti has gotten worse.
It is estimated that 85% of Port-au-Prince is under gang control.
The Caribbean nation, which is now run by a transitional council composed of members from political parties, business associations, and civil society organizations, has had difficulty holding an election that would reinstate democratic governance.
