October 10, 2024: A local official informed reporters that the number of fatalities from the vicious gang attack on a tiny community in central Haiti last week had increased to 115.
The attack on the inhabitants of Pont-Sondé on Oct. 3 was one of the largest atrocities that Haiti has experienced in recent history.
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The mayor of the adjacent city of Saint-Marc, Myriam Fièvre, stated that the death toll had reached 115 and will probably continue to grow because the search for more victims is ongoing and significant parts of the town are inaccessible to the authorities.
“We are working to make sure that the population is protected,” stated during a phone conversation.
The Gran Grif gang attacked the village in the central Artibonite area last week, resulting in the deaths of at least 70 people, according to earlier reports from the U.N.
A local human rights organization claims that the gang surprised the people of Pont-Sondé by approaching the town on boats, killing infants, young mothers, and the elderly.
Considering the gang’s social media warning in a video that it intended to strike Pont-Sondé, survivors have questioned why the authorities did nothing to halt the attack.
The Artibonite region, which has witnessed a spike in gang violence in recent years and is home to at least 20 criminal gangs, was subject to a change in leadership the day following the attack. This was reported by the United Nations.
Over 6,200 survivors left Pont-Sondé and made temporary homes in the seaside city of Saint-Marc and its environs.
Most of them are lodged with family. However, according to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration, over 750 additional people are sleeping on the floors of a church, a school, and a public square in Saint-Marc because they have nowhere else to go.
Fièvre issued a warning that the Gran Grif gang is invading neighboring settlements after assaulting Pont-Sondé, while Saint-Marc struggles to deal with the unexpected inflow of individuals.
According to Haiti’s National Human Rights Defense Network, the gang was upset because a neighborhood self-defense organization was attempting to curb gang activities in Pont-Sondé and stop it from making money from a temporary road toll it had just set up nearby.
Gran Grif is a group of around 100 people that have been charged with rape, murder, robbery, and kidnappings. As for the U.N., it was established when former lawmaker Prophane Victor started arming young people about ten years ago to guarantee his election and authority over the region.
The United States this month imposed sanctions on Victor and Luckson Elan, the head of the Gran Grif. The United Nations Security Council also imposed sanctions on Elan, stating that Gran Grif “is the largest and most powerful” gang in Artibonite, having carried out nine major kidnappings between October 2023 and January 2024, involving the abduction of 157 individuals.
