Three Christian Missionaries Shot Dead By Gang In Haiti

UNSPLASH/HAITI/Carlin Trezil ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Three Christian missionaries from Mission In Haiti were shot dead by gangs in Haiti, the Oklahoma-based group said.

Para misionaris sedang berlindung di sebuah rumah ketika anggota geng mulai membakat kedaman tersebut, Kamis, 23 Mei, kata kelompok itu dalam dua postingan Facebook.

Gang violence for months in Haiti has forced the government to step down, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned the country was close to being a failed country.

Haiti's main international airport in Port-au-Prince reopened this week, after nearly three months of closures due to criminal gang violence.

However, the gangs still control most of Haiti's main capitals and ports still closed.

"Unfortunately, this serves as a reminder that the security situation in Haiti cannot wait for too many innocent lives to be lost," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Missouri State representative Ben Baker said his daughter Natalie Lloyd and son-in-law Davy Lloyd were killed while working as a full-time missionary.

Davy Lloyd is the son of the founding organization, David and Alicia Lloyd, who started in 2000. The identities of the three dead have not been announced.

"My heart was shattered into pieces. I've never felt pain like this," Baker said on Facebook.

The couple left the church when they were ambushed by three trucks full of gang members. They took Davy Lloyd to a house, tied him up and beat him, before taking the group's truck and some items and then leaving, he said.

"No one understands what they are doing, is not sure what happened, but one person was shot and killed and now this gang is carrying out a full attack," he added.