The death toll in a brutal gang attack last week on a small town in central Haiti has risen to at least 115, a local official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The attack on residents of Pont-Sondé on October 3 was one of the biggest massacres that Haiti has seen in recent history.
Dozens wounded in the attack were being treated at Saint-Nicolas, the lone hospital in of nearby city of Saint-Marc.
A few showed knife wounds, but most were being treated for bullet wounds.
Myriam Fièvre, mayor of Saint-Marc, said Wednesday that the toll had risen to 115 and would likely keep rising as authorities continue to look for bodies and haven’t been able to access certain areas of the town.
The U.N. had previously said that at least 70 people were killed last week when the Gran Grif gang invaded the town of Pont-Sondé in the central Artibonite region.
The victims included babies, young mothers and the elderly, with the gang approaching Pont-Sondé via canoes to catch residents by surprise, according to a local human rights group.
Survivors have questioned why authorities did not do anything to stop the attack since the gang had warned in a video posted on social media that it planned to target Pont-Sondé.
More than 6,200 survivors have fled Pont-Sondé and temporarily settled in the coastal city of Saint-Marc and surrounding areas.
As Saint-Marc struggles with the sudden influx of people, Fièvre warned that the Gran Grif gang is infiltrating nearby communities after attacking Pont-Sondé.
Gran Grif has about 100 members and has been accused of crimes including murder, rape, robberies and kidnappings.
Source: Africanews
