Haiti: Angry Mob Beats, Burns 13 Suspected Gang Members to Death

Violent gangs in Haiti have reportedly dominated about 60% of its capital, Port-au-Prince. However, residents seem to be fighting back as an angry mob beat up and burned suspected gang members who were in the custody of local police.

The Miami Herald reported that the violent incident happened when police at a checkpoint stopped a minibus that they suspected was filled with gang members.

They ordered everyone to get off and had the suspected gang members lie on the ground. That was when an angry mob appeared and attacked.

Residents of the neighborhood had appeared and dragged the men away from the police. They then started beating them up and stoning the suspected Haitian gang members.

However, it took a more horrific turn as members of the angry mob then threw gasoline-soaked tires on top of them and lit them up. It all happened as the police watched.

Bodies of Suspected Gang Members Found After Angry Mob Attacked

The violent attack was caught on camera and attracted hundreds of onlookers. It happened in the Canape Vert neighborhood, a hilly suburb of the capital that somehow managed to stave off the invasion of Haitian gangs.

As the smoke cleared, a reporter for the Associated Press who was on the ground reported that he saw 13 bodies burning in the street as residents devolved to mob justice to protect themselves.

Witness Eder Samuel told the AP that the suspects were believed to have been heading to another area to join a group of gang members who were battling police. Another witness noted that there had been a lot of shootings in the area since the early morning of Monday.

Another video showed that those suspected gang members were armed as handguns and AK47 magazines were seized by police before the angry mob came and took the alleged gang members away.

However, that was not the only violent incident that happened in Haiti's capital, as suspected gangsters and police had a firefight in the Turgeau neighborhood, which is just a few minutes drive from Canape Vert.

According to an AP reporter, police killed six suspected gang members in that firefight, though locals dragged their bodies from where they fell to a central location and lit them on fire.

Situation in Haiti Devolving

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs revealed that in just six days, from April 14 to 19, almost 70 people were killed in clashes involving gangs in Port-au-Prince's largest shantytown, Cité Soleil.

Among those dead were two children, and around 40 of those killed were shot or stabbed.

"Fighting is raging in Cité Soleil... The population feels under siege. They can no longer leave their homes for fear of gun violence and gang terror," said Ulrika Richardson, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Haiti.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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