Haiti police recover hijacked cargo ship in rare victory after 5-hour shootout with gangs

Port au Prince, Haiti:Haiti s National Police agency says that it has recovered a hijacked cargo ship laden with rice following a gunbattle with gangs...

Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Haiti’s National Police agency says that it has recovered a hijacked cargo ship laden with rice following a gunbattle with gangs that lasted more than five hours.

Two police officers were injured and an undetermined number of gang members were killed in the shootout that occurred Saturday off the coast of the capital, Port-au-Prince, authorities said in a statement.

It was a rare victory for an underfunded police department that has struggled to quell gang violence following a spate of attacks that began Feb. 29.

Police said in the statement Sunday that those responsible for the hijacking were members of two gangs, named the 5 Seconds and the Taliban gang. They said gunmen seized the transport ship Magalie on Thursday as it departed the port of Varreux.

Radio Télé Métronome reported that the gangs kidnapped everyone aboard the ship and stole some 10,000 sacks of rice out of the 60,000 sacks it was carrying.