A major hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was set on fire following an attack by armed groups, according to hospital and police sources on Tuesday.
The fire, which occurred on Monday night at Bernard Mevs Hospital, did not result in any injuries, but it caused significant damage, destroying four operating rooms, a laboratory, imaging equipment, and administrative offices. The suspected attackers are believed to be members of gangs from the “Viv Ansanm” (“Living Together”) alliance, who used Molotov cocktails to start the blaze.
“It’s a whole symbol that has gone up in smoke,” a source told AFP, highlighting the significant impact of the attack on the capital’s medical capacity. Bernard Mevs Hospital, a key private healthcare facility in Haiti, was known for possessing some of the most advanced medical imaging technology in the country, making its destruction especially devastating for the nation’s health sector.
This fire marks the latest episode of escalating violence in Port-au-Prince, where attacks by armed gangs have surged in multiple neighborhoods over the past month, further deepening the turmoil in the already beleaguered Caribbean nation.
The Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince had been closed in mid-November following a violent incident where gangs opened fire on a Spirit Airlines flight preparing to land, injuring a flight attendant. Other commercial planes were also struck by gunfire that day, leading Spirit, JetBlue, and American Airlines to cancel their flights to Haiti. In response, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed a 30-day ban on U.S. airlines flying to Haiti, which remains in effect until Thursday.
In early December, nearly 200 people were killed in a massacre orchestrated by a “powerful gang leader” targeting “voodoo practitioners,” according to reports from the United Nations and a local NGO.
A multinational mission in support of the Haitian police, led by Kenya and backed by the UN and the United States, has had limited success in reducing the frequency of attacks by armed groups. These groups are accused of committing numerous crimes, including murders, rapes, looting, and kidnappings for ransom
