"This attack underscores the gravity of the security situation faced by the Haitian population," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The attack from late Saturday into Sunday happened in Petite Riviere de l'Artibonite, a town in central Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas. Members of the Gran Grif gang burned houses and left multiple people dead, local rights activist Bertide Horace said, with more attacks also happening Monday.

Pierre Esperance, a representative of the National Human Rights Defense Network, citing residents' testimonies, told AFP that the attackers gunned down those fleeing the house fires "while others were executed at point-blank range."  Police put the toll at 16 dead with 10 wounded, while Horace said around 30 were killed with roughly 10 people missing and several hurt. Dujarric told reporters in New York that estimates of the death toll vary, ranging from 10 to up to 80 people killed. A clearer death toll was not available because it is difficult to send a government official to count the bodies, said Venson Francois, a prosecutor from nearby Saint-Marc. Francois said he feared a higher death toll because the attack was carried out during a local festival. For years, Haiti has been in the throes of deadly gang violence, with frequent murders, rapes and kidnappings. (Bssnews)