8 Reported Killed as Haitian Soldiers Fire on Marchers

Soldiers fired into a crowd of about 2,500 protesters marching Wednesday to condemn members of the disbanded Tontons Macoutes private militia, killing at least eight people and wounding 15, witnesses said.

Reporters said three soldiers waiting at a major downtown intersection fired into the crowd shortly after midday as the marchers, organized by trade unions, headed peacefully toward the National Palace shouting anti-Macoutes slogans and calling for the resignation of the ruling junta led by Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy. The shooting caused demonstrators to stampede, many of them breaking windows as they fled.

The Tontons Macoutes disbanded and many went into hiding when President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier fled to exile in France in January, 1986, and was replaced by Namphy’s three-man military-civilian National Government Council. However, many are believed still active, having been incorporated into the current army.