Three missionaries in Haiti killed in gang attack

Linked media – Connected media

Mr Lloyd said he told his son he could go home for a break on Wednesday after the airport reopened, but he rejected the offer.

“He just had a heart for the Haitian people,” she said.

Mr. Montis, the pastor, had been with the organization for 20 years. “One of the best guys you’ll ever meet,” Mr. Lloyd said.

The elder Mr Lloyd said they had frequent dealings with gang leaders, who respected their work.

Despite the plague of murders in recent months, he said the area has been relatively peaceful in recent weeks. He also regularly fed gang members bread from the organization’s bakery, she said, adding that it was customary to have to pay them to get through checkpoints.

The gang leaders, he said, told him: “‘We appreciate you helping people.’

“That’s why we felt safe.”

Haiti has been hit by a large-scale gang attack since February, when several gangs that normally fight each other decided to band together and fight the government. Hospitals, government buildings, police stations and prisons were attacked and thousands of prisoners were released.

The crisis forced the resignation of Haiti’s prime minister, Ariel Henry, who was abroad at the time and unable to return. A transitional council was appointed to run the troubled government while the United States helped organize a deployment of police and soldiers from several countries, led by Kenya, to fight the gangs. The mission is expected to arrive in the next few weeks.

Linked media – Linked media