At least 89 individuals have died as a result of gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital over the course of the past week, according to a rights group, as the city’s security situation continues to deteriorate dramatically as a result of rising costs, fuel shortages, and gang conflict.
Two opposing factions started the rioting on July 7 in Cite Soleil, a poor and heavily populated area of Port-au-Prince.
While international humanitarian agencies tried to bring vital food supplies and give the wounded with medical attention, shootings erupted in the slums for over a week. Police, who were understaffed and ill-equipped, did not act.
Thousands of families living in the slums that have sprung up here over the past four decades had no choice but to hide inside their homes, unable to fetch food or water — and, with many houses made of sheet metal, dozens of residents fell victim to stray bullets.
‘At least 89 people were killed and 16 others are missing’ in the past week’s violence, the National Human Rights Defense Network said in a statement which was obtained by Africa Today News, New York, adding that another 74 people sustained gunshot or knife wounds.
Mumuza Muhindo, head of the local mission of Doctors Without Borders, on Wednesday urged all combatants to allow medics to safely access Brooklyn, an area of Cite Soleil most affected by the violence.
Despite the danger, Muhindo said his group has operated on an average of 15 patients a day since last Friday.
He said his colleagues have seen burned and rotting corpses along a road leading to the Brooklyn neighborhood, possibly either gang members killed in the clashes or people trying to flee.
‘It’s a real battlefield,’ Muhindo said. ‘It’s impossible to estimate how many people have been killed.’