SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Haiti’s government announced Saturday that it is implementing a three-month state of emergency in the country’s central region as gang violence surges.
The measure will cover Haiti’s West, Artibonite and Center departments “to continue the fight against insecurity and respond to the agricultural and food crisis,” according to a government statement.
The region — known as Haiti’s rice basket — has been under attack in recent years, with gangs killing farmers or forcing them to abandon their fields as they raze nearby communities.
The United Nations’ human rights office noted that from October 2024 to the end of June 2025, more than 1,000 people have been killed, more than 200 injured and 620 kidnapped in the Artibonite and Central departments and nearby areas.
Gang violence also has displaced more than 239,000 people in Haiti’s central region, according to the U.N. In late April, dozens of people waded and swam across the country’s largest river in a desperate attempt to flee gangs.
On Friday, the government appointed a new interim director general to oversee Haiti’s National Police, which is working with Kenyan police officers leading a U.N.-backed mission to help quell gang violence.
André Jonas Vladimir Paraison replaces former police director general Normil Rameau, who was criticized for his struggle to contain violence perpetrated by gangs that control up to 90% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. Rameau had repeatedly warned about the department’s severe underfunding.
Paraison previously served as head of security of Haiti’s National Palace, and he was on duty as a police officer when former President Jovenel Moïse was killed at his private residence in July 2021.
The changes come as Laurent Saint-Cyr, a wealthy businessman, takes over as president of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, which is charged with holding elections by February 2026.
Newly-appointed police chief Vladimir Paraison, left, salutes Transitional Council President Laurent Saint-Cyr, during his presentation ceremony as the new interim police chief, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — One person died, two people were missing and 16 others were rescued from the waters off San Francisco after a pontoon boat carrying 19 people sank Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen reported the toll and said crews that arrived on the scene near Alcatraz Island found a three-deck pontoon vessel almost fully under water, with the motor still running and leaking fuel.
The waters around Alcatraz Island, once a federal prison and now a tourist destination, attract sailboats and other recreational vessels. It lies in San Francisco Bay about a mile (about 1.6 kilometers) north of the city's shoreline.
The boating mishap was initially reported as a fire, “but we now don’t have any evidence of that,” Crispen said.
Some of the people were injured from falling into the water, but there were no reports of burns, he said. The person who died was alive when plucked from the frigid waters by rescue crews but later died. A dog onboard also died.
Crews continued to search the water for the two missing with divers, helicopters and 11 vessels, Crispen said.
“Right now we are in full rescue mode,” he added.
All those rescued were taken to Gashouse Cove Marina, a small craft harbor in San Francisco. Three people with injuries from falling from the boat were taken to the hospital, Crispen said.
Fire Lt. Mariano Elias said the vessel, described as a “pontoon pleasure boat,” was about 600 yards (about 550 meters) from Alcatraz and the emergency call came in just after 3:30 p.m.
Crispen said the vessel was believed to have launched near the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. A person who answered the phone there said the club did not have any information on what happened.
Video images from a local Fox station showed a Fire Department boat deployed to rescue people who had been on the vessel, which was largely submerged with objects floating nearby.
Live video from the scene showed a man and a woman wrapped in blankets and sitting on a curb before walking to a nearby ambulance. A yellow tarp covered a body on the dock.
The Coast Guard and Oakland police also helped in the rescue, Elias said.
A U.S. Coast Guard crew goes past Alcatraz Island near the site of a pontoon boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A body is covered with a tarp on a dock near the site of boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A body is covered with a tarp on a dock near the site of boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Emergency crews gather at a dock near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Emergency crews stage near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
An Oakland Police boat is docked near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
A U.S. Coast Guard crew patrols near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Emergency crews gather at a dock near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
