El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced on Wednesday that he had launched a military operation to rescue four Salvadoran aviation technicians kidnapped by gangs in Haiti, according to the Associated Press (AP).

The four disappeared after an ambush by armed gangs on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, according to security officials. AP reported that after fleeing a burning vehicle in the Santo area of Croix-des-Bouquets the four were left unaccounted for; Bukele demanded the hostages be returned alive and unharmed and said the Salvadoran mission involves only pilots and technicians for medical evacuations.