Two Haitian journalists were shot dead while reporting in Port-au-Prince, officials said Tuesday, amid a rise in violence against the press in the island nation's capital.
Tayson Latigue and Frantzsen Charles, who both worked for online outlets, were shot in Cite Soleil, one of Haiti's largest slums, which has been plagued by gang violence for months.
"They were part of a group of seven journalists who had gone to the area to report on the armed clashes that led to the death of a teenager... on Saturday," journalist Robest Dimanche, the spokesman for the Haitian Collective of Online Media, told AFP.
"The two journalists were killed while coming back from the neighborhood where the young victim's parents live," he said, recounting the testimonies of the surviving journalists.
"After their death, the bandits burned their bodies."
Latigue worked for the digital outlet "Ti Jenn Jounalis," which he also founded. Charles worked for "FS News Haiti," which announced his death on its official Facebook page.
"We announce with great sorrow the death of our journalist and reporter Frantzsen Charles and another colleague. They were killed by bandits while reporting in Cite Soleil. We demand justice for our colleague," the statement said.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was "deeply shocked" by the murders.
"We strongly condemn this barbaric act," he wrote on Twitter Monday night.
Haiti has been mired in a political and economic crisis for years, exacerbated by the assassination of president Jovenel Moise in 2021.
Gangs also enjoy widespread impunity and violence has increased in recent years.
