The new gang abduction took place as armed gangs spread terror in the Caribbean country, as police are unable to restore order and security.
Thirty-eight people on two minibuses bound for the southern Haitian city of Miragoan have been abducted by gunmen in the capital, Port-au-Prince, the president of a drivers’ union told AFP.
“Two buses were just full of passengers bound for Miragoan (a town 100 kilometers west of Port-au-Prince) when some lads from the ‘Village of God’ took over,” said Mehu Sanzhou, head of the Owners Association. and Haiti Bus Drivers, referring to a place in a Port-au-Prince slum used by gangs as a base for their attacks.
“Each bus had 18 people, except the drivers,” he added, without giving details about the motives of the perpetrators.
The new gang abduction took place as armed gangs spread terror in the Caribbean country, as police are unable to restore order and security.
Authorities have lost control of the only highway connecting the capital, Port-au-Prince, to southern Haiti since last June. The abduction of 38 people took place in this area.
Sanzhou assures that its Union “always urges drivers not to follow this path until the authorities restore safety.”
However, this appeal is not heeded by the poorest residents, as travel through the only alternative road costs much more due to tolls. “There are still buses that take the risk because some passengers do not have the financial means for the mountain route,” he explains.
Last weekend, three Turkish women were released after a month in captivity. They were abducted by a criminal gang that controlled the area east of Port-au-Prince, all the way to the border with the Dominican Republic. The same gang is still holding five Turkish nationals hostage.
At least 200 abductions were recorded in May alone in Haiti, most of them in the greater Port-au-Prince area, according to UN figures.
