At least three people were killed in Haiti when gunmen opened fire on journalists, police and medical staff during a press conference announcing the reopening of the country’s largest public hospital.
A number of other people were injured in Tuesday’s attack at a general hospital in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Photos posted online appear to show several people injured or killed inside the building.
The site had been retaken by the Haitian government in July after being occupied and destroyed by gangs that controlled much of the city.
Journalists were waiting for Health Minister Rote Brema to arrive when the shooting started.
According to reports, two journalists and a police officer were shot dead.
“It was like a terrible movie,” Diego Andre, a photojournalist who witnessed the violence, was quoted as telling the Haiti Times.
“I have blood from several injured journalists on my clothes.”
The attack was reportedly carried out by members of the Vibh Ansanmu gang.
“My condolences go to the families of all the victims, especially the Haitian National Police and all journalists’ associations,” Lesley Voltaire, president of Haiti’s Presidential Transitional Council, said in a video statement.
“We assure them that this action will not remain without consequences.”
Despite a new transitional government taking office in April and the deployment of an international force led by Kenyan police officers six months ago, Haitians continue to suffer from intolerable levels of gang violence.
Haiti has been embroiled in a wave of gang violence since the assassination of then-President Jouvenel Moïse in 2021.
An estimated 85% of Port-au-Prince remains under gang control.
The United Nations says violence in Haiti has killed as many as 5,000 people this year and the country is now on the brink of collapse.
