World News for Students of English

26-10-2021 07:00

Last Sunday, a Haitian gang kidnapped 17 missionaries from an Ohio, US, organization. They were on a trip to visit an orphanage in Ganthier, east of Port-au-Prince.

The group had 16 US citizens, one Canadian, and five children, and the kidnappers demanded a 17-million-dollar ransom, or one million dollars for each kidnapped person. The 400 Mawozo gang is known for bold kidnappings and killings, including five priests and two nuns earlier this year.

Kidnappings in Haiti increased three times since President Moise’s assassination on July 7. A non-profit human rights group recorded 628 kidnappings in the first eight months of 2021, compared with 234 in 2020.

The kidnapping comes just days after US officials promised more resources for Haiti’s National Police.

Difficult words: missionary (a religious person who goes places to help people or to teach them about religion), orphanage (a home for children whose parents are dead or unable to care for them), ransom (money or goods demanded to be paid in exchange for the release of a kidnapped person).

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