Two wounded patients were killed after police officers and vigilantes attacked an ambulance in Haiti, according to a statement from humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF) on Wednesday. This tragic incident, which occurred in the capital Port-au-Prince, marks another horrific act of violence in a country grappling with gang warfare and political instability.
MSF reported that on Monday, law enforcement stopped one of its ambulances transporting three young patients with gunshot wounds to an MSF hospital. Police redirected the ambulance to a public hospital, where officers and a vigilante group reportedly surrounded the vehicle. According to MSF, the group slashed the ambulance’s tires and deployed tear gas inside, forcing MSF staff members out of the vehicle.
The situation quickly escalated. The officers and vigilantes removed the wounded patients from the ambulance and took them outside the hospital grounds, where, according to MSF, at least two of them were killed. Christophe Garnier, MSF’s Head of Mission, told CNN that staff members heard gunshots after the patients were taken away, though it remains unclear who carried out the killings. The third patient survived the incident, but MSF noted that authorities had suspected the patients of gang affiliations, though MSF found no evidence to support that claim. Garnier mentioned that the officers involved were wearing protective gear, but the specific police unit or agency remains unknown.
MSF condemned the assault on its personnel and patients, revealing that its staff were threatened with death and detained against their will for over four hours. “This act is a shocking display of violence, both for the patients and for MSF medical personnel, and it seriously calls into question MSF’s ability to continue delivering essential care to the Haitian people, who are in dire need,” Garnier stated. MSF is arranging a high-level meeting with Haitian police to address the issue.
This is not the first time MSF has faced violent threats while operating in Haiti. In December of last year, armed individuals stopped an MSF ambulance, pulled a patient out, and executed him. This latest attack follows a separate incident just days earlier, where three US-based planes were struck by gunfire at the Port-au-Prince airport, forcing flight suspensions and the temporary closure of the airport.
Haiti’s transitional presidential council attributed the gunfire at the airport to armed gangs, accusing them of attempting to isolate the country internationally. The shootings coincided with the swearing-in of new Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who has pledged to restore security and democracy in Haiti amidst escalating violence.