Current:Home > FinanceHospital director in Haiti says a gang stormed in and took women and children hostage -VitalWealth Strategies
Hospital director in Haiti says a gang stormed in and took women and children hostage
View
Date:2025-04-23 00:05:35
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A heavily armed gang burst into a hospital in Haiti on Wednesday and took hostage women, children and newborns, according to the director of the medical center who pleaded for help via social media.
Jose Ulysse, founder and director of the Fontaine Hospital Center in the sprawling Cite Soleil slum in the capital of Port-au-Prince, confirmed the incident in a brief message exchange with The Associated Press. “We are in great difficulty,” he said.
Ulysse said on social media that “hundreds” of patients at the hospital were taken hostage, but the number could not immediately be confirmed. No further details were available, and it was not clear why the assailants may have taken patients hostage. Ulysse did not respond to further questions for comment.
A spokesman for Haiti’s National Police did not immediately return a message for comment.
The hospital is considered an oasis and a lifeline in a community overrun by gangs that have unleashed increasingly violent attacks against each other, with civilians who live in Cite Soleil routinely raped, beaten or killed.
Ulysse identified those responsible as members of the Brooklyn gang, led by Gabriel Jean-Pierre, best known as “Ti Gabriel.” Jean-Pierre also is the leader of a powerful gang alliance known as G-Pep, one of two rival coalitions in Haiti.
The Brooklyn gang has some 200 members and controls certain communities within Cite Soleil including Brooklyn. They are involved in extortion, hijacking of goods and general violence against civilians, according to a recent U.N. report.
“The G-Pep coalition and its allies strongly reinforced cooperation and diversified their revenues, in particular by committing kidnapping for ransom, which has enabled them to strengthen their fighting capacity,” the report stated.
When The Associated Press visited the Fontaine Hospital Center earlier this year, Ulysse said in an interview that gangs had targeted him personally twice before.
Gangs across Haiti have continued to grow more powerful since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and the number of kidnappings and killings keep rising.
Earlier this year, at least 20 armed gang members burst into a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders and snatched a patient from an operating room. The criminals gained access after faking a life-threatening emergency, the organization said.
___
Associated Press reporter Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.
veryGood! (9896)
Related
- A Georgia governor’s latest work after politics: a children’s book on his cats ‘Veto’ and ‘Bill’
- Jersey Shore’s Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and Wife Lauren Expecting Baby No. 3
- Want to tune in for the second GOP presidential debate? Here’s how to watch
- Australian prime minister says he’s confident Indigenous people back having their Parliament ‘Voice’
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- A woman died after falling from a cliff at a Blue Ridge Parkway scenic overlook in North Carolina
- Morgan Wallen extends One Night At A Time Tour with new dates into 2024: 'Insanely fun'
- 100 Jewish leaders call out Elon Musk for antisemitism on X, formerly Twitter: We have watched in horror
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- California man who spent 28 years in prison is found innocent of 1995 rape, robbery and kidnapping
Ranking
- Connie Chiume, Black Panther Actress, Dead at 72: Lupita Nyong'o and More Pay Tribute
- Historic Venezuelan refugee crisis tests U.S. border policies
- The Academy gifts replacement of Hattie McDaniel's historic Oscar to Howard University
- Joe Namath blasts struggling Jets QB Zach Wilson: 'I've seen enough'
- 'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
- Why Maryland Is Struggling to Meet Its Own Aggressive Climate Goals
- Mississippi announced incentives for company days after executive gave campaign money to governor
- Delaware trooper facing felony charges involving assaults on teens after doorbell prank at his house
Recommendation
In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
Multiple striking auto workers struck by car outside plant
Deaths of FDNY responders from 9/11-related illnesses reach 'somber' milestone
Gisele Bündchen on her wellness journey: Before I was more surviving, and now I'm living
Southern California rocked by series of earthquakes: Is a bigger one brewing?
Missouri’s GOP attorney general sues school for closed-door debate on transgender bathroom use
Want to tune in for the second GOP presidential debate? Here’s how to watch
Police are investigating if unprescribed drugs factored into death of ex-NFL player Mike Williams