Heavily armed Haitian gang surrounds hospital in capital and traps people inside

A heavily armed gang surrounded a hospital in Haiti on Wednesday, trapping women, children, and newborns inside until police rescued them, according to the director of the medical center, who pleaded for help via social media, Report informs, citing The Associated Press.

The Fontaine Hospital Center in the capital of Port-au-Prince is considered an oasis and a lifeline in a community overrun by gangs that have unleashed increasingly violent attacks against each other and residents. People who live in the capital’s sprawling Cite Soleil slum are routinely raped, beaten, and killed.

The hospital founder and director, Jose Ulysse, told The Associated Press that gangs were torching homes around the hospital and preventing people inside from leaving. He initially said that it appeared some gang members had entered the hospital, but later said they did not go inside.

Ulysse said members of Haiti’s National Police force responded to his call for help and arrived with three armored trucks to evacuate 40 children and 70 patients to a private home in a safer part of the city. Among those delicately evacuated were children on oxygen, he said.