More than 100 mourners attended funerals in Kenscoff for victims of a recent gang attack that killed 47 people.
More than 100 mourners gathered in a youth church in Kenscoff, Haiti, to attend funerals for two brothers and three of their cousins. The service followed a mass gang attack on August 23 that killed 47 people and kidnapped more than 50 others in the farming community.
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According to a spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office, approximately 150 heavily armed gang members participated in the attack. The gang members first killed 13 people who attempted to flee, then pursued 50 others who sought refuge inside the church. The gang members executed 22 people in the church courtyard and 12 others behind the church. Patrique Saint-Hilaire, an official with Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency in Kenscoff, stated that the government plans to support the families of the victims. The National Police are currently investigating whether the attack occurred due to police negligence or complicity. The attack occurs as Haiti prepares for its first general elections in over a decade, while gangs currently control an estimated 70% of the capital and surrounding regions.