Haiti’s online media association reported that two journalists were killed and several others injured in a gang attack on Tuesday during the reopening of Port-au-Prince’s largest public hospital.
Street gangs, which now control an estimated 85% of Haiti’s capital, had forced the General Hospital to close earlier this year. Authorities had promised to reopen the facility on Tuesday, but as journalists gathered to cover the event, suspected gang members launched a deadly Christmas Eve attack.
Robest Dimanche, a spokesman for the Online Media Collective, identified the deceased journalists as Markenzy Nathoux and Jimmy Jean. He added that an unspecified number of reporters were also injured in the assault, which he attributed to the Viv Ansanm coalition of gangs.
Haiti’s interim president, Leslie Voltaire, addressed the nation, stating that both journalists and police officers were among the victims. He did not provide exact numbers for the casualties but said, “I send my sympathies to the people who were victims, the national police and the journalists,” adding a vow that “this crime is not going to go unpunished.”
A video posted online by journalists trapped inside the hospital showed two lifeless bodies on stretchers, their clothes stained with blood. One of the men appeared to be wearing a press credential on a lanyard around his neck.
Radio Télé Métronome initially reported that seven journalists and two police officers were wounded, but neither police nor officials immediately responded to requests for further information.
Street gangs have continued to wreak havoc in Port-au-Prince, forcing the closure of critical institutions, including the General Hospital, during violent incidents earlier this year that also targeted the main international airport and Haiti’s two largest prisons.
On Tuesday, as authorities attempted to reopen the hospital, a video posted online showed journalists inside the building, with at least three lying on the floor, seemingly wounded. The footage, however, could not be immediately verified.
Johnson “Izo” André, regarded as Haiti’s most powerful gang leader and part of the Viv Ansanm gang coalition that controls much of Port-au-Prince, posted a video on social media claiming responsibility for the attack. In the video, André stated that the gang coalition had not authorized the hospital’s reopening.
Violence against journalists in Haiti has been a recurring issue. In 2023, two local journalists were killed within weeks of each other — radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was shot in mid-April, while journalist Ricot Jean was found dead later that month.
In July, former Prime Minister Garry Conille visited the General Hospital, formally known as the Hospital of the State University of Haiti, after authorities temporarily regained control of it from gangs. The hospital had been left devastated, with debris strewn across the premises and walls riddled with bullet holes, evidence of violent clashes between police and gangs.
Haiti’s ongoing gang violence has pushed the nation’s healthcare system to the brink of collapse. Hospitals and pharmacies have been looted, burned, and destroyed, leaving a surge in patients without adequate resources for treatment.
Compounding these challenges, the rainy season has increased the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera. Poor conditions in camps and makeshift settlements have contributed to over 84,000 suspected cholera cases in the country, according to UNICEF.
