More than 100 mourners gathered Wednesday at a church in Haiti’s Kenscoff community, where gangs recently carried out a deadly attack that killed dozens and shook the troubled country.
The funerals were held for two brothers and three of their cousins at the church in Kenscoff, a mountain farming community overlooking Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
Gangs stormed the once-peaceful community on the night of Aug. 23, killing 47 people and abducting more than 50 others in one of Haiti’s largest mass kidnappings in recent years.
The attack left residents fearful and grieving as violence continues to spread across the country.
Days after the abductions, a gang leader agreed to free six children and seven women following intervention by community leaders and UNICEF.
Marta Hurtado, a spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office, said about 150 heavily armed gang members participated in the attack. She said they first killed 13 people who tried to flee and then pursued 50 others who had sought refuge inside the church where the funerals were held Thursday.
Gang members executed 22 Haitians in the church courtyard and 12 others behind the church, she said.
Patrique Saint-Hilaire, an official with Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency in Kenscoff, told The Associated Press that the government plans to support the families who lost loved ones.
So far, 17 of the 47 people killed have been buried.
"Kenscoff is still under red alert," he said. "People are very traumatized."
Friends and family of those killed have organized protests and vigils, blaming police for the attack. Haiti’s National Police has said it is investigating the attack and whether it was "due to complicity or negligence."
Mourners declined to speak to journalists Thursday as anger over the killings persisted. After the service, some people attacked a couple of journalists, including an AP photographer who received medical care.
The latest attack comes as Haiti prepares for its first general elections in more than a decade.
Gangs control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince and swaths of land in Haiti’s central region and beyond. They are also seeking to seize territory in Kenscoff.
Gang violence has displaced a record nearly 1.5 million people across Haiti, where more than 3,050 people were reported killed between January and June, according to the U.N.