AP Videographer Forced to Ride in Burning Vehicle as Haitian Gang Attacks With Molotov Cocktails

An AP videographer found himself riding in a burning armored vehicle in Haiti on Monday after the police unit he had been filming was attacked with Molotov cocktails.

Pierre-Richard Luxama has been covering chaos in Haiti, along with AP Caribbean reporter Dánica Coto, for close to 20 years.

This week was a depressing example of the gang violence that plagues the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. While traveling along the city’s main thoroughfare with a tactical police unit, the Viv Ansanm gang, which controls most of the city, attacked them with Molotov cocktails. Police fired at the gangs to drive them back.

The roof of the armored vehicle Luxama was traveling in caught fire and “heavy smoke” began to fill the inside where he was sitting.

But despite the grave situation, the police had no intention of stopping as doing so could result in all of their deaths. Last year, videos of police officers being pulled from broken-down armored vehicles and killed had circulated on social media.

“Everyone was calm, but smoke was coming inside,” Luxama told the AP wire, per The Independent. “Police told us to breathe very slowly. Inside the armored car, the smoke was really heavy and was spreading everywhere quickly.”

For 10 more agonizing minutes, Luxama focused on his breathing as the burning vehicle trundled back to safety. But while he kept calm, the vehicle’s fiery arrival sparked panic back at base.

“Everybody was running around us. They were panicked when they saw the roof on fire,” says Luxama. “We opened the door, and when we got out, a group of civilians and police officers started coming toward us to throw water on the roof.”

Luxama describes the situation as “scary” but says over the years he has learned not to worry.

“When I’m in a difficult situation, the first thing I should do is stay calm,” he says. “When you stay calm, you think about what the next situation will be, and what you should do.”

“If you panic, it’s not going to be good for you,” he adds.

That same day, Luxama also witnessed a person’s severed arm and leg tied to an electrical wire that was dangling in front of an abandoned store that had been looted.

Despite efforts by police in Haiti and a U.N.-backed police mission, gang violence has displaced 1.4 million Haitians, and hundreds of thousands more are facing emergency levels of hunger.

Needless to say, it is one of the most perilous places on Earth for journalists and photographers.