Medical doctors’ charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says a minimum of two of its sufferers have been killed in Haiti after police and vigilantes attacked their ambulance within the capital Port-au-Prince.
The charity stated its crews had been transporting three sufferers with gunshot wounds to a MSF hospital on Monday after they have been stopped by authorities and compelled to go as a substitute to a public hospital.
Once they arrived, officers and “members of a self-defence group” attacked the automobile, slashing its tyres and forcing occupants out by means of tear-gas.
The wounded sufferers have been then taken away from the hospital grounds the place “a minimum of two of them have been executed”, the charity stated.
It’s unclear from MSF’s assertion the situation of the third affected person. However the group stated its ambulance employees have been additionally assaulted within the incident by “legislation enforcement officers and members of a self-defence group”.
MSF stated employees have been “violently attacked, insulted, tear-gassed, threatened with dying” and held hostage for greater than 4 hours earlier than being launched. The motive behind the assault is unclear.
“The act is a stunning show of violence and it severely calls into query MSF’s capability to proceed delivering important care to the Haitian individuals,” stated Christophe Garnier, the group’s head of mission within the nation.
MSF, also referred to as Medical doctors With out Borders, is among the final humanitarian non-government organisations (NGOs) nonetheless working in Haiti, the place violent chaos has gripped the capital.
Because the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, armed gangs have seized energy in lots of areas, resulting in a spike in avenue violence within the poorest nation within the Americas.
A UN Safety Council briefing final month heard that legal gangs had gained management of 85% of the capital.
Greater than 3,600 individuals have been killed in Haiti since January and greater than 500,000 have needed to go away their houses, in accordance with the UN.
The UN has despatched a global policing operation to Haiti, largely made up of Kenyan police. The mission is claimed to have secured some key websites within the capital together with the nationwide hospital, seaport and airport.
Nevertheless, a number of US airways suspended flights to the nation this week after three planes have been hit by gunfire approaching or departing the airport this week.
A brand new prime minister was sworn into workplace in Haiti earlier this week. Alix Didier Fils-Aimé stated his precedence was “restoring safety” within the nation.
