PORT-AU-PRINCE, Dec 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A major hospital in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince went up in flames after an attack by armed groups, hospital and police sources said.
The hospital source said nobody was hurt in Monday night’s fire at Bernard Mevs Hospital, but the blaze destroyed four operating rooms, a laboratory, imaging equipment and administrative offices.
The suspected assailants were members of gangs belonging to the “Viv Ansanm” (“Living Together”) alliance, who used Molotov cocktails to set fire to the hospital.
“It’s a whole symbol that has gone up in smoke,” the source said, emphasizing that the attack will have a considerable impact on the capital’s medical capacity.
The private hospital played a key role in Haiti’s health sector, as it was known for having some of the most advanced medical imaging technology in the country.
The fire is the latest instance of growing turmoil in the capital of the beleaguered Caribbean nation, where attacks by armed gangs have been escalating in multiple neighborhoods for over a month.
In early December, nearly 200 people were killed in a massacre led by a “powerful gang leader” against “voodoo practitioners,” according to the United Nations and a local NGO.
A multinational mission in support of Haitian police, led by Kenya and backed by the UN and the United States, has had little impact on the frequency of attacks by armed groups, who are accused of committing numerous murders, rapes, looting and kidnappings for ransom.
The attacks also target key buildings and infrastructure, which forced the closure of the capital’s airport to commercial flights in November. — NNN-AGENCIES
