In Haiti, at least three people were killed when armed men opened fire on medical staff, police and journalists during a press conference announcing the reopening of the country’s largest public hospital.

An attack occurred at the General Hospital in the capital, Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday, leaving several people injured.

Pictures posted online showed several people injured or dead inside the building.

The site was recaptured by the Haitian government in July after being overrun and destroyed by violent gangs that controlled much of the city.

Journalists were awaiting the arrival of the health minister when the shooting occurred.

Reports said two journalists and a police officer were shot dead.

“We express our sympathies to all the families of the victims, especially the Haitian National Police and all journalists’ associations,” Lesley Voltaire, chairman of Haiti’s presidential transitional council, said in a video statement.

“We would like to assure them that this behavior will not come without consequences.”

Despite the formation of a new transitional government in April and the deployment of an international force led by Kenyan police six months ago, Haitians continue to suffer from unbearable gang violence.

Haiti has been gripped by a wave of gang violence since the assassination of then-President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

An estimated 85% of Port-au-Prince remains under gang control.

The United Nations says as many as 5,000 people have been killed in violence in Haiti so far this year and the country is on the verge of collapse.