PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The gang that kidnapped 17 people with a U.S.-based Christian aid group in Haiti on Saturday is demanding a ransom of $1 million for each person they are holding, the country’s justice minister, Liszt Quitel, said Tuesday.

“The demand was made to the country chief of the Christian Aid Ministries — they asked for $1 million per person,” Quitel said in a phone interview, referring to the aid group. “Often these gangs know these demands cannot be met and they will consider a counter offer from the families, and the negotiations can take a couple of days sometimes, or a couple of weeks.”

As far as he knows, he said, the gang has not issued a deadline for payment.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the ransom demand.

The local authorities said the people kidnapped — 16 Americans and one Canadian, including five children — were captured in a suburb of Port-au-Prince, the capital. The adults range in age from 18 to 48, the children from 8 months to 15 years, according to a statement from the organization on Tuesday.

“This group of workers has been committed to minister throughout poverty-stricken Haiti,” the Ohio-based ministry said, adding that the missionaries worked most recently on a project to help rebuild homes lost in a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck on Aug. 14.

The group was returning from visiting an orphanage when it was abducted, the organization said.

In response to a recent wave of kidnappings, workers staged a protest strike that shuttered businesses, schools and public transportation starting Monday. The work stoppage was a new blow to Haiti’s anemic economy. Unions and other groups vowed to continue the shutdown indefinitely.

Meanwhile, an ongoing fuel shortage worsened, and businesses blamed gangs for blocking roads and gas distribution terminals.

On Tuesday, hundreds of motorcycles zoomed through the streets of Port-au-Prince as the drivers yelled, “If there’s no fuel, we’re going to burn it all down!”

One protest took place near the prime minister’s residence, where police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd demanding fuel.

In Washington, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that the FBI was “part of a coordinated U.S. government effort” to free the missionaries. The American Embassy in Port-au-Prince was coordinating with local officials and the hostages’ families.

“We know these groups target U.S. citizens who they assume have the resources and finances to pay ransoms, even if that is not the case,” she added, noting that the government has urged citizens not to visit Haiti.

It is longstanding U.S. policy not to negotiate with hostage takers, and Psaki declined to discuss details of the operation.

Haiti has been in a state of political upheaval for years, and kidnappings of the rich and poor alike are alarmingly common. But even in a country accustomed to widespread lawlessness, the abduction of such a large group of Americans shocked officials for its brazenness.

Violence is surging across Port-au-Prince, which is controlled by gangs. On a single day last week, gangs shot at a school bus, injuring at least five people, including students, while another public bus was hijacked by a gang. By some estimates, gangs now command roughly half of the city.

Gangs have plagued Port-au-Prince over the past two decades, but were often used for political purposes — such as voter suppression — by powerful politicians. They have grown into a force that is now seemingly uncontrollable, thriving in the economic malaise and desperation that deepens every year, with independent gangs mushrooming across the capital.

As security has broken down, Haiti’s politics have disintegrated. Two years ago, demonstrators furious at widespread corruption demanded the ouster of President Jovenel Moise, effectively paralyzing the country. The standoff prevented the sick from getting treatment in hospitals, children from attending school and workers from going to the rare jobs available. It even stopped electricity from flowing in certain areas.

Since then, gangs have become only more assertive. They operate at will, kidnapping children on their way to school and pastors in the middle of delivering their services.

The gang that police believe captured the missionary group is among the country’s most dangerous and one of the first to engage in mass kidnappings.

Known as 400 Mawozo, the gang controls the area where the missionaries were abducted in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince. The group has sown terror there for several months, engaging in armed combat with rival gangs and kidnapping businessmen and police officers.

The gang was blamed for kidnapping five priests and two nuns this year. It is also believed to have killed Anderson Belony, a famous sculptor, on Tuesday, according to local news reports. Belony had worked to improve his impoverished community.

Associated Press contributed.