US, Canadian missionaries kidnapped in Haiti

A gang in Haiti has kidnapped 17 members of a US aid organization.

Christian Aid Ministries, based in the US state of Ohio, says missionaries and their family members were kidnapped near the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on Saturday.

The organization says 16 Americans and one Canadian were taken hostage, including seven women and five children. It says they were on a trip to visit an orphanage.

US media outlets say a local gang was involved in the abduction. Police are looking into the incident.

The Caribbean country said to be one of the world’s poorest nations slipped into political and economic turmoil after President Jovenel Moise was murdered in July.

Security has also worsened. Kidnappings by gangs seeking ransoms spiked after a powerful earthquake killed more than 2,000 people in August.