You're reading: Associated Press: US, Haiti seek release of 17 missionaries snatched by gang

Associated Press: US, Haiti seek release of 17 missionaries snatched by gang

Published Oct. 18, 2021 at 8:11 am

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 16: A Haitian flag is seen as people attend a faith vigil for victims of an earthquake in Haiti at the steps of St. Jerome's Roman Catholic Church on August 16, 2021 in the Little Caribbean neighborhood of Brooklyn borough in New York City. Elected officials along with faith and community leaders held a vigil for victims of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Saturday, the deadliest since the January 2010 earthquake. There have been at least 1,297 confirmed deaths and 5,700 more injured from the quake as of today. The country, which is still dealing with a political crisis from the assassination of its President Jovenel Moïse last month, is also facing Tropical Storm Grace, which is expected to hit the country between Monday night and Tuesday morning according to projections from U.S. National Hurricane Center. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Michael M. Santiago / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Photo by Getty Images via AFP

U.S. officials are working with Haitian authorities to try to secure the release of 12 adults and five children with a U.S.-based missionary group who were abducted over the weekend by a gang notorious for killings, kidnappings and extortion. The group was snatched by the 400 Mawozo gang, which controls the Croix-des-Bouquets area east of the capital of Port-au-Prince, police inspector Frantz Champagne told The Associated Press on Sunday.