Saturday a Haitian driver was mortally wounded by gunfire during an altercation with a customs officer about 300m from the Malpasse border crossing point (Ganthier Commune).

This tragedy provoked a spontaneous anger reaction from the population who attacked, vandalized and looted the customs warehouses before setting them on fire and at the customs office. A person died during these events, it could be the customs officer involved in the altercation (unconfirmed).

Subsequently, a very "upraised" crowd pursued customs officers who took refuge in the premises of the Malpasse Police Station, which was burned by unidentified individuals. Stuck in the police station, a customs officer died burned alive while 3 others succumbed, asphyxiated by the smoke.

The partial assessment is 6 deaths but the number of victims could be higher pending an official assessment of the authorities.

Several units of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) have been called to restore order, but barricades on the road up Fonds-Parisien and violent demonstrators prevented them from arriving in time to avoid the tragedy, according to an official of the City of Ganthier.

Events that worry economic operators, Malpasse being the border crossing that has the largest volume of bilateral trade across the border.

SL/ HaitiLibre