A dire situation unfolded in Haiti on Nov. 15 as a heavily armed gang besieged Fontaine Hospital Center in Port-au-Prince.
According to the Associated Press, on Nov. 15 a heavily armed gang besieged Fontaine Hospital Center in Port-au-Prince, trapping vulnerable individuals, including women, children, and newborns.
Jose Ulysse, the hospital’s founder and director, urgently sought assistance through social media, highlighting the perilous conditions in a community overwhelmed by escalating gang violence.
Situated amid the Cité Soleil slum is the Fontaine Hospital Center, which has long served as a vital refuge from rampant gang activity. Residents of the area routinely suffer atrocities including rape, assault, and homicide.
Ulysse recounted that the gang members surrounded the hospital, setting homes ablaze in the vicinity and obstructing the exit of those inside. While he initially reported that some gang members had entered the hospital, he later clarified that they did not breach its confines.
“Gangs are in total control of the area,” Ulysse emphasized to the Associated Press, underscoring the security challenges faced by the community. A spokesperson for the National Police was unavailable for immediate comment.
“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,” per a UN report.
Earlier this year, armed gang members infiltrated a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders, forcibly seizing a patient from an operating room by fabricating a life-threatening emergency.
Source: Black Enterprise
