UN peacekeeper shot to death in Haiti

A United Nations peacekeeper was shot near a suburb of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and later died in a UN hospital of his wounds, the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) said.

Two UN policemen from Canada were driving along Route National 1 near the sprawling Cité Soleil low-income suburb yesterday when unidentified gunmen fired on their vehicle, hitting the driver.

“The driver who was seriously wounded in the leg, received immediate first aid from his colleague and an armoured MINUSTAH vehicle intervened to provide the necessary protection for their extraction from the scene,” it said. “The victim, who was immediately evacuated to the MINUSTAH Argentine Military Hospital, located in the Haitian capital, died at 11:07 a.m.”

An investigation has been opened to identify the gunmen, MINUSTAH said.