Gang war in Port-au-Prince: risking his life by transporting a wounded man to the hospital
Residents of Port-au-Prince waiting for help from civil protection, as the gang war rages on April 28, 2022. REUTERS - RALPH TEDY EROL
Text by: Stefanie Schüler Follow
3 mins
Since Sunday, April 24, suburbs in the northeast of the Haitian capital have been the scene of a real war between two gangs for control of this area called the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac.
The injured are numerous.
Some arrive, risking their lives, in a hospital run by the French NGO Doctors Without Borders, in a neighborhood not far from the clashes.
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The Doctors Without Borders hospital in Tabarre, a district in the east of the capital Port-au-Prince, specializes in traumatology and the treatment of severe burns.
But for the past few days, the work of surgeons has been almost exclusively akin to war medicine.
“
Most of the patients who come to us are gunshot wounds, that is to say cases of trauma to the limbs or abdominal wounds
,” notes Mumuza Muhindo, MSF's head of mission in Haiti.
It all started at dawn on Sunday April 24
, when members of the armed group 400 Mawozo attacked several localities in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac to drive out another gang called Chiens wicked.
“
When people wanted to leave the churches, they were caught in a vice
,” explains Mumuza Muhindo.
The first gunshot wounds arrived shortly afterwards at the MSF hospital: “
There were a lot of women and a lot of children.
This shows the degree of exposure of the population and the risks that civilians incur in this situation.
»
Since Sunday, the influx of wounded has not stopped.
“
Our hospital has a capacity of 70 beds.
And now almost everyone is busy.
Usually we count about ten admissions per day.
There, we went to around twenty cases a day
, ”says Mumuza Muhindo.
► To read also: Gang war north of Port-au-Prince: "People are killed, houses burned down"
terrible dilemma
These exceptional figures are however probably far from reflecting the real situation in neighborhoods such as Santo, Marin, Bon Repos, Shada, Croix-des-Missions or Butte Boyer.
Because many injured cannot be taken to hospital.
“
The gangs set up barricades in the streets.
Ambulances can no longer pass, private cars either
,” reports the head of mission of Doctors Without Borders.
Families who have a gunshot wound in their ranks then find themselves faced with a terrible dilemma, continues Mumuza Muhindo: “
Let this loved one die or risk their lives by taking him to the hospital.
“Some take the risk and arrive in Tabarre at Doctors Without Borders.
For others, it is simply impossible to leave the house, as the clashes between the two gangs are raging.
From these localities, where bursts of automatic weapons ring out day and night, the Doctors Without Borders team receives calls for help.
“
There are families calling us.
And we advise them how to cope.
All these wounded who are cloistered at home will perhaps have to wait several more days before being able to be treated
”, worries Mumuza Muhindo, “
with all the risks of complications that this implies for their state of health
”.
The gang war affects the very operation of the hospital in Tabarre.
Twenty MSF staff members are also trapped by the violence and have not been able to come to work since Sunday, “
because there is shooting around the houses.
One of our colleagues, for example, spent the night lying at home to avoid stray bullets
,” reports the aid worker.
Médecins sans frontières reminds us: as in all armed conflicts, civilians must be spared and have access to medical care.
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