Haiti: a gang hijacks two minibuses and kidnaps all their 38 passengers

Haitian gangs erected barricades in the neighborhoods they control, as well as on roads linking the capital to the rest of the country, such as here in Croix-des-Missions, north of Port-au-Prince, on April 28, 2022 (illustrative image).

AP - Odelyn Joseph

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

In Haiti, gangs continue to rule the roost with complete impunity: on Friday, June 10, one of the main armed gangs in Port-au-Prince hijacked two minibuses and took all of their occupants hostage.

The security situation in the country continues to deteriorate: for the month of May alone, the UN has recorded at least 200 kidnappings in Haiti, the vast majority in the capital.

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Port-au-Prince,

The vehicles were about to leave for Miragoane, located 100 kilometers west of Port-au-Prince, when members of the

Village de Dieu

The two drivers and the 36 passengers are in the hands of

led by the nicknamed “ 

 ”.

He did not hide it: in a short video posted on social networks, he claimed responsibility for this group kidnapping, filming his face hooded and surrounded by people he presented as being the passengers of the minibuses.

Méhu Changeux, president of a road transport union, confirmed the facts.

He said that to his knowledge no ransom demand had yet been made.

It has now been more than a year since the axis on which this group kidnapping took place has been

.

If the professional associations urge the drivers not to risk it any more, some take it all the same, because many inhabitants unfortunately do not have the means to pay for transport by the mountain: a longer way, in very bad condition but which today constitutes the only road alternative to come and go in the southern half of Haiti.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_EN

• Haiti

• Crime