A witness is describing the terrifying moment that armed gunmen kidnapped an American woman and her young child last week in Haiti, the Associated Press reports.
On Thursday, New Hampshire native Alix Dorsainvil and her daughter were abducted from a small clinic near Port-au-Prince. Authorities have been tight-lipped about the situation, but one patient who was in the facility at the time of the incident described what unfolded.
“When I saw the gun, I was so scared,” Lormina Louima told the AP. “I said, ‘I don’t want to see this, let me go.’”
The clinic is operated by the Christian ministry El Roi Haiti, which is led by Dorsainvil’s husband, Sandro Dorsainvil.
There are reports that the abductors are demanding $1 million, although officials have not confirmed this ransom.
“Obviously, the safety and security of American citizens overseas is our highest priority,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said this week.
“We are in regular contact with the Haitian authorities. We’ll continue to work with them and our U.S. government interagency partners, but because it’s an ongoing law enforcement investigation, there’s not more detail I can offer.”
Members of the local community have since marched calling for the nurse and her child to be released and for the government to take more action against violence in the city.
The dame day of the kidnapping, the State Department issued an advisory warning against travel to Haiti because of “kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and poor health care infrastructure.” The agency also evacuated non-emergency personnel from the country.
Alix Dorsainvil first visited Haiti while in college after a 2010 earthquake, according to The Hill.
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