Group of missionaries held hostage in Haiti escape ‘God willing’

On October 16, the “400 Mawozo” gang kidnapped a total of seventeen missionaries, after visiting an orphanage west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of approximately 15 million euros. Five hostages have already been released in recent weeks, but the remaining twelve – including children – escaped their captors alone on Monday. “God made them try to escape,” Weston Showalter said. Christian Aid Services, the religious organization to which the missionaries belonged.

The twelve are said to have escaped from the locked room where they were being held, undetected by their guards. Then they walked for miles on rugged terrain “to a mountain they saw from afar”. Hours later, a passerby noticed them and helped them. Haitian police were unable to give any details of the missionaries’ condition.