PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI – An American nurse and her child have been kidnapped in Haiti amid the Caribbean country’s ongoing crisis.
The kidnapping was reported by the Christian humanitarian aid organization the woman, Alix Dorsainvil, had been working for near the capital of Port-au-Prince called El Roi Haiti.
“At first I didn’t think there would be much of a need there, but when I got there, there were so many cases,” Dorsainvil said in a video released by the organization.
The mother and daughter were reportedly abducted Thursday morning from their campus just outside of Port-au-Prince.
The family had moved to Haiti from New Hampshire to provide nursing care for children.
Representatives from El Roi say Dorsainvil is a deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family.
The kidnapping has gripped the attention of the U.S. Department of State, which confirmed that it is “in regular contact with Haitian authorities and will continue to work with them and our U.S. government interagency partners.”
Any effort to secure their release or return could prove challenging.
Local officials estimate that 80 percent of Port-au-Prince is controlled by rival gangs.
“I think what’s happening is that they feel that the gang leaders feel their days are numbered,” Haitian Times founder Garry Pierre-Pierre said. “There’s talk about sending some kind of intervention troops, police force to pacify the situation. So I think that now is the most dangerous time to be in Haiti because anything can happen to you.”
Experts say most of the time kidnappers ask for a ransom, but as of now, there’s no word yet if that’s the case in this situation.
The kidnapping comes after the U.S. Department of State began urging Americans to stay out of Haiti as violence continues growing in the country.