The five Turkish citizens who had been kidnapped by a gang since the beginning of May in Haiti were released on Tuesday, a source close to the case told AFP on Wednesday.
The details of the release are not yet known, but according to the information provided by the same source, foreigners between 20 and 26 years of age and who had entered the country on a bus along with seven other people, are in apparent good physical condition.
Ten days ago, the three women of the same nationality who were traveling with them had been released "because they were sick"Michaelle Durandis, representative of the Metro bus company, said at the time.
On May 8, the group of foreigners, who are part of a religious community with a presence in Haiti since 2019, had left Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, bound for Port-au-Prince.
The vehicle they were traveling in had been diverted shortly after crossing the border by one of the most dangerous gangs in the country.
On board the bus were 12 people, eight Turkish nationals, three Haitians and one Dominican.
The two employees of the transport company, a Haitian auxiliary and the Dominican driver, had been released less than a week later, and later the two Haitian passengers after the payment of a ransom to the gang, according to the representative of the Metro company.
Haitian authorities are struggling to control criminal gangs throughout the country. In May alone, the UN registered at least 200 kidnappings, committed mainly in Port-au-Prince.
The powerful gang nicknamed "400 mawozo" It has controlled for several years the area where the Turkish hostages were kidnapped, located between the border with the Dominican Republic and the Haitian capital.