At least 110 people were killed over the weekend in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Haiti’s capital, a leading human rights group has said, attributing the killings to a personal vendetta by a local gang leader.
The National Human Rights Defence Network (RNDDH) said on Sunday that Wharf Jeremie gang leader Monel “Mikano” Felix ordered the massacre in Cite Soleil, a sprawling slum in Port-au-Prince, after his child became sick.
Felix had reportedly sought advice from a Voodoo priest who accused elderly people in the area of using witchcraft to harm the child, who died on Saturday afternoon.
Gang members killed at least 60 people on Friday and 50 on Saturday using machetes and knives, according to RNDDH.
All the victims were aged over 60, the rights group said.
Densely populated Cite Soleil is among the poorest and most violent areas of Haiti.