PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) — Gunmen Sunday abducted three worshippers as they left a church whose pastor, Deacon Sylner Lafaille, was shot and killed in September 2021 during a kidnapping attempt.

The authorities said the three parishioners were preparing to return home after the 6:30 am service at First Baptist Church of Port-au-Prince located near the National Palace, the official residence of the head of state, when they were kidnapped by heavily armed individuals.

The incident has caused panic among the churchgoers, some of whom recalled that on September 26, 2001, Deacon Sylner Lafaille, who was accompanied by his wife Marie Marthe Laurent Lafaille, was shot and killed as they were preparing to enter the church.

The wife was later released after a ransom had been paid.

Criminal gangs have been engaged in kidnappings for ransom, with the clergy and places of worship increasingly being targeted.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has described the situation as “a living nightmare”.

The latest kidnappings follow the abduction of Father Antoine Macaire Christian Noah five days ago as he made his way to his missionary community, north of the capital. He had been working as a parish priest in the mountainous village of Casale for a year before he was snatched.

The Claretian Missionaries, the religious congregation he belongs to, said it had been contacted by the gang with a ransom demand.

Last year Haiti reported more than 1, 200 kidnappings.