Washington: As many as 17 Christian missionaries from the US and their family members, including children, were kidnapped on Saturday by a gang in Port-au-Prince as they were leaving an orphanage, The New York Times reported citing Haitian security officials.
So far the details of the incidents are unclear. But officials have informed that missionaries were abducted from a bus headed to the airport to drop off some members of the group before continuing to another destination in Haiti, according to The New York Times. Haiti has been witnessing kidnappings of the rich and poor alike and some violent incidents also due to political upheaval for years in the country. But the kidnappings of the US missionaries have shocked everyone.
Jennifer Viau, a spokeswoman for the U.S State Department in Washington, said via email that “we’re looking into this.”
Meanwhile, the U.S Embassy in Haiti refused to make any comments on the incident outside business hours. The report did not give any further details on the missionaries or their church.
Violence is rising across the capital Port-au-Prince. Some estimates suggest that gangs now control roughly half of the city.
