Haiti's health minister Duckenson Lorthe has been removed from his post
Haiti's health minister has been removed from his post following Tuesday's deadly gang attack on the largest public hospital in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
In a statement Thursday, Haiti's transitional council named Justice Minister Patrick Pelissier as interim Health Minister until a replacement is found for the outgoing minister, Duckenson Lorthe.
Two journalists and a police officer were killed as gang members burst into the General Hospital and fired indiscriminately at reporters who were there to cover the facility's reopening. Seven other journalists were wounded.
It was one of the worst attacks on Haitian media in recent memory.
Jean Feguens Regala, a photographer who survived the attack, said journalists had been invited to the hospital by the health ministry but there was little security at the site.
The health minister was not at the event.
Shortly after the attack, Johnson "Izo" André — considered Haiti's most powerful gang leader and part of the Viv Ansanm group of gangs that has taken control of much of Port-au-Prince — posted a video on social media claiming responsibility for the attack.
The video said the gang coalition had not authorised the hospital's reopening.
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