Hundreds Of Women And Children Taken Hostage In Haiti After Heavily Armed Gang Storms Hospital

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A heavily armed gang burst into a hospital in Haiti on Wednesday and took hostage hundreds of women, children and newborns, according to the director of the medical center who pleaded for help via social media.

Jose Ulysse, founder and director of the Fontaine Hospital Center in the sprawling Cite Soleil slum in the capital of Port-au-Prince, confirmed the incident in a brief message exchange with The Associated Press. “We are in great difficulty,” he said.

No further details were immediately available, and it was not clear why the assailants may have taken patients hostage. Ulysse did not respond to further questions for comment.

The hospital is considered an oasis and a lifeline in a community overrun by gangs that have unleashed increasingly violent attacks against each other, with civilians who live in Cite Soleil routinely raped, beaten or killed.

Ulysse identified those responsible as members of the Brooklyn gang, led by Gabriel Jean-Pierre, best known as “Ti Gabriel.” Jean-Pierre also is the leader of a powerful gang alliance known as G-Pep, one of two rival coalitions in Haiti.

The Brooklyn gang has some 200 members and controls certain communities within Cite Soleil including Brooklyn. They are involved in extortion, hijacking of goods and general violence against civilians, according to a recent U.N. report.

Hundreds of women and children taken hostage in Haiti after heavily armed gang storms hospital: director

A heavily armed gang burst into a hospital in Haiti on Wednesday and took hostage hundreds of women, children and newborns.

nypost.com