Cap-Haitien, Haiti (AHN) – Christian motorcycle missionaries escaped safely Wednesday after they were attacked by a mob of angry Haitians who blamed them for the cholera outbreak on the earthquake- and hurricane-ravaged island.
Members of the Arkansas-based Christian Motorcyclists Association say they were onboard a bus trying to leave the city of Cap-Haitien when they were attacked. The group had been holed up in a Cap-Haitien hotel as the cholera outbreak raged outside.
As they tried to leave, the group of attackers chased the missionaries, with some of the attackers swarming the bus on motorcycles.
“We saw one guy with a machete raised up and he’s running and yelling and screaming and pointing up ahead. We suspect they put a blockade up in front of us. That’s when we stopped and they busted out the glass on the door,” Gibson recalled.
Damage inflicted by the attackers caused the bus to spray oil and become barely operable. Even so, the driver was able to get the vehicle just outside a United Nations peacekeeping base. Chilean troops were able to usher the missionaries inside and they will remain at the facility until it is safe to leave.
One of the group’s Haitian employees was dragged off the bus when a window was broken. However he escaped without serious injury.
The road the missionaries were travelling on was discovered to be blocked with torched cars likely positioned by the attackers ahead of time.
“I feel like God protected us,” Gibson said. “Just the fact that the bus stopped, died right in front of the U.N. compound, is confirmation that he’s looking out for us.”
The group had travelled to Haiti to donate seven motorcycles to Christian leaders in the area.
The island’s deadly cholera outbreak has already claimed the lives of more than a 1,000 people. Demonstrators have also accused peacekeepers of spreading the disease. Cap-Haitien is now a city of burning barricades throughout its streets.
Peacekeeping bases have been attacked with rocks, bottles and homemade bombs.
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November 18th, 2010 
davidguide 
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