Haiti’s shuttered main public hospital is set on fire in latest attack on the institution

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s main public hospital, which remains shuttered after multiple gang attacks, was set on fire Thursday in the latest blow to one the country’s largest health institutions.

The hospital’s general director, Dr. Prince Sonson Pierre, confirmed the fire in an interview with The Associated Press. He said he called police to see if they could secure the building to avoid a total loss.

“It’s very sad in a country where there’s a lack of medical services for the general hospital of Port-au-Prince to be on fire,” he said.

The hospital is located in a dangerous section of the capital’s downtown area controlled by a gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm that forced the institution to close last year.

Police eventually drove out gunmen from that area, prompting Haiti’s government to announce in December that it was reopening the General Hospital. It held a press conference on Christmas Eve that politicians, police officers and journalists attended.

Gunmen opened fire on the hospital as the event was underway, saying they had not authorized its reopening.

They killed two journalists and a police officer and injured at least seven other reporters in an attack that led to the removal of the health minister.

It was one of the worst attacks on Haitian media in recent memory.