Washington: As many as 17 American Christian missionaries and their families, including children, were kidnapped on October 17 by gang members in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, the New York Times reported, citing security officials there.
Haiti’s Justice Minister Liszt Quitel said the gang was demanding $1 million per person.
The kidnapping happened as the missionaries were leaving an orphanage in the crisis-engulfed Caribbean nation, the Times said.
FBI agents and other US officials are helping Haitian authorities hunt for the 12 adults and five children linked to the Christian Aid Ministries in Ohio.
It is the largest reported kidnapping of its kind in recent years, with Haitian gangs growing more brazen and abductions spiking as the country tries to recover from the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck southern Haiti on Aug. 14 and killed more than 2,200 people.
