At least 40 people were killed after gang members attacked displaced persons sheltering inside a church outside Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince, the local mayor and the United Nations said Monday.
"We have counted around 40 bodies. Searches are continuing. Some people are still missing," Kenscoff mayor Massillon Jean told the AFP news agency.
Several of those killed on Sunday night had already fled violence earlier this year, Jean said.
"The bandits raided a displaced persons camp located in a church. They executed several people. There are fatalities and dozens of wounded. Some people were abducted by the criminals," Jean said.
What do we know about the attack near Haiti's capital city?
The UN said the attack had left at least 47 people dead and more than 22 injured and warned that casualty estimates could still change.
Rights group RNDDH said between 30 and 40 people were killed and 15 to 20 were injured during the attack, which started at around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday.
In a statement, the office of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé condemned the "heinous attack," adding that security forces were on the highest alert and reinforcements were being deployed.
Residents have called for the local police chief to resign amid allegations that police failed to protect people sheltering in the church, which is just minutes away from the police station.
Kenscoff lies in the hills outside the Haitian capital and has been plagued by gang violence for months.
Early last year, gang attacks resulted in more than 260 people being killed and 200 homes destroyed or set ablaze, displacing 3,000 people, according to the UN. At least 10 more attacks have taken place since.
Kenscoff is in a strategic location overlooking several routes into Port-au-Prince.
"Kenscoff will not be abandoned. Haiti will not be handed over to bandits. The Republic will prevail," the statement said.
What is the security situation in Haiti?
Haiti's capital and the surrounding regions have increasingly come under the control of an alliance of criminal groups in recent years.
Attempts by the international community to support Haiti's ill-equipped police force have failed to rein in the violent gangs.
Haiti is the poorest nation in the Americas. The Caribbean country suffers from deep-seated political instability, corruption, natural disasters and gang violence.
The UN estimates that nearly 1.5 million Haitians are currently displaced out of a total population of 11 million people. More than five million face severe food insecurity.
The violence worsened in 2024, after criminal groups sparked a wave of violence that culminated in the unelected prime minister resigning.
The last time Haiti held an election was in 2016. Its previous president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in 2021 and has not been replaced.
Haiti is scheduled to hold elections in December this year.
