Haiti’s Internet Media Association said two journalists were killed and several wounded in an alleged gang attack Tuesday at the reopening of Port-au-Prince’s largest public hospital.

Street gangs have taken over an estimated 85% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and forced the closure of the General Hospital earlier this year. Authorities promised to reopen the facility on Tuesday, but as journalists gathered to cover the event, suspected gang members opened fire in a vicious attack on Christmas Eve.

Robest Dimanche, spokesman for the Online Media Collective, identified the dead journalists as Markenzy Nathoux and Jimmy Jean. Dimanche said an unspecified number of journalists were also wounded in the attack, which he blamed on the Viv Ansanm gang coalition.

Haiti Interim President Leslie Voltaire said in an address to the nation that journalists and police were among the victims of the attack. He did not specify how many victims there were, nor did he provide information on the dead and wounded.

“I send my condolences to the people who were victims, the national police and the press,” Voltaire said, promising “this crime will not go unpunished.”

A video posted online by journalists trapped in the hospital showed what appeared to be two lifeless bodies of men on stretchers, their clothes bloody. One of the men had a lanyard around his neck with a journalist’s credential.

Radio Télé Métronome initially reported that seven journalists and two police officers were wounded. Police and officials did not immediately return calls for information about the attack.

Street gangs forced the closure of the General Hospital earlier this year during violence that also targeted the main international airport and Haiti’s two largest prisons. Federal Aviation Administration suspended last month US airlines have stopped flying to Haiti after three planes were shot at by gangs as they were arriving or departing from Port-au-Prince.

Authorities promised to reopen the facility on Tuesday, but as reporters gathered to cover the event, suspected gang members opened fire.

A video posted online earlier showed journalists inside the building and at least three lying on the floor, apparently wounded. That video also could not be immediately verified.

Johnson “Izo” André, considered the most powerful gang leader in Haiti and part of the gang known as Viv Ansanm, which has taken control of much of Port-au-Prince, posted a video on social media claiming responsibility for the attack.

The video says the gang coalition has not approved the reopening of the hospital.

Haiti has seen journalists targeted before. In 2023, two local journalists were killed within weeks of each other — radio reporter Dumesky Kersaint was fatally shot in mid-April of that year, while reporter Ricot Jean was found dead later that month.

In July of former prime minister Garry Conille visited the State University of Haiti Hospital, better known as the General Hospital, after the authorities retook control of it from the gangs.

The hospital was left devastated and covered in debris. Walls and nearby buildings were riddled with bullet holes, signaling battles between police and gangs. The hospital is located opposite the National Palace, the scene of several battles in recent months.

Gang attacks brought Haiti’s health care system to the brink of collapse with looting, arson and destruction of medical facilities and pharmacies in the capital. The violence caused an increase in the number of patients and a lack of funds for their treatment.

Haiti’s health care system faces additional challenges during the rainy season, which is likely to increase the risk of waterborne diseases. Poor conditions in camps and makeshift settlements have increased the risk of diseases such as cholera, with over 84,000 suspected cases in the country, according to UNICEF.