Violence in Haiti: four people are kidnapped during a religious ceremony that was broadcast on Facebook

04/02/2021 2:17 PM

• Clarín.com

• World

Updated 04/02/2021 14:30

At least

one pastor and three other people were kidnapped

 after a gunman entered a church in Haiti on Thursday night.

The fact was recorded by the cameras, since

the ceremony was going live

on Facebook Live.

The footage shows how the three people on the pulpit notice that something has happened and begin to run to the edge of the stage.

The gunman then walks up to them and forces them to walk towards the exit.

The kidnapping, which took place in a study adjacent to an

Adventist church on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince

, the capital of Haiti, was confirmed to

The Miami Herald

by Gregory Figaro, who is the son of the man who founded the temple where the incident occurred. . 

The moment in which the irruption of the man in the religious ceremony takes place.

Photo: Facebook video capture

"If this happened, then everything is possible in the country because

there is no respect for any institution

, be it a church or a school," Figaro told the Herald.

"They are even kidnapping people from inside their houses," he added.

Figaro was present at the time the event was triggered.

According to his explanation, first a knock was heard on the door and, after someone opened it, he saw that an armed man entered the place.

In total, he said he saw

between 8 and 9 armed men

, who arrived in two vehicles to the temple.

There were between 10 and 15 people present for the ceremony, who ran to a side aisle as soon as the incident began. 

The abductees were identified as Audalus Estimé, a temple pastor, Welmyr Jean-Pierre, a music teacher, and two technicians in charge of the broadcast, Steve Jérôme and Francisco Dorival.

Two other women who were in the study managed to escape.

Kidnappings in Haiti are rising alarmingly.

According to the Herald, over the last year, they have

increased by 200%

.

This is the second incident of its kind to hit the Adventist community in the Caribbean country in recent months.

In December, a pastor named Elie Henry was kidnapped along with his daughter, and then his captors demanded ransom for them.

Both were kidnapped on Christmas Eve, and were released days later.