Hostages Freed in Haiti After Being Kidnapped During Attack On Orphanage

Police patrols the area where the gunman kidnapped several people from an orphanage in a mountainous community on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, in Kenscoff, Haiti, August 4, 2025. REUTERS/Fildor Pq Egeder

HAITI – An Irish Missionary and a 3-year-old child are among eight people who have been freed in Haiti by kidnappers after being held for almost a month following an attack by gunmen on an orphanage.

Gena Heraty who has worked in Haiti since 1993, is director of a special needs program for children and adults at the orphanage.

Haitian authorities have yet to comment.

Heraty and the other seven were taken hostage during the August 3rd attack on the orphanage.

Its website says the orphanage cares for more than 240 children.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but the area has been controlled by a gang federation known as Viv Ansam, which the United States this year designated a foreign terrorist organization.