Haiti has declared a state of emergency after the assassination of its president Jovenel Mo?se, who was shot dead during the night in his private home on the outskirts of the capital Port-au-Prince.

“At around 1am?.?.?.?a group of unidentified individuals, some of whom were speaking Spanish, have attacked the president of the republic’s private residence and mortally wounded the head of state,”interim prime minister Claude Joseph said in a statement. He later said the killers had also spoken in English. .

Joseph appealed to the Caribbean nation’s 11m population for calm and condemned what he called an “odious, inhuman and barbaric act”, in which Mo?se’s wife Martine was also seriously wounded. Haiti’s ambassador to the US, Bocchit Edmond, told reporters the first lady is in critical condition and that efforts are being made to fly her to Miami for treatment.