The death toll in a gang attack on a small Haitian town rises to 115

The death toll in a gang attack on a Haitian town rises to at least 115

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Victims injured in an attack on a small town in central Haiti last week continued to receive treatment on Wednesday as officials announced the death toll from one of the biggest massacres in the country’s history had risen to at least 115. (AP video shot by Pierre Luxama)

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Relatives carry the coffin of Jean Louis Jeune Gracien, who was killed during an attack by armed gangs, at his funeral in Pont-Sonde, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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Germain Rivaldo, wounded by a bullet during armed gang attacks, lies on a bed at Saint Nicolas hospital in Saint-Marc, Haiti, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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A cemetery worker prepares a grave days after a deadly gang attack on Pont-Sonde, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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Max Altis is sworn in as the new police commissioner in Saint-Marc, Haiti, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, days after a deadly gang attack in a nearby town. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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A relative cries during the funeral of Jean Louis Jeune Gracien, who was killed during an attack by armed gangs, in Pont-Sonde, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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Musicians arrive at the funeral of Jean Louis Jeune Gracien, who was killed during an attack by armed gangs, in Pont-Sonde, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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Relatives carry the coffin of Jean Louis Jeune Gracien, who was killed during an attack by armed gangs, at his funeral in Pont-Sonde, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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A local resident points to a bullet hole on a door days after a deadly gang attack on Pont-Sonde, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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People ride public transportation known as a tap-tap in Pont-Sonde, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, days after a deadly gang attack on the town. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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People walk across a bridge in Pont-Sonde, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, days after a deadly gang attack in the town. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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Tcharlit Charles, wounded by a bullet during armed gang attacks, sits on a bed at Saint Nicolas hospital in Saint-Marc, Haiti, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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People raise their arms while walking past a police station in Pont-Sonde, Haiti, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, days after a gang attacked the town. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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Exiles Junior, wounded by a bullet during armed gang attacks, sits up on a bed at Saint Nicolas hospital in Saint-Marc, Haiti, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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Doctors treat a man who was shot and wounded during armed gang attacks, at Saint Nicolas hospital in Saint-Marc, Haiti, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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People displaced by armed gang attacks rest at the Antoinette Dessalines National School, a makeshift shelter, in Saint-Marc, Haiti, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

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Relatives of people injured during armed gang attacks wait around at Saint Nicolas hospital in Saint-Marc, Haiti, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

By EVENS SANON and PIERRE-RICHARD LUXAMA

PONT-SONDÉ, Haiti (AP) — The death toll in a brutal gang attack last week on a small town in central Haiti has risen to 115, a local official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The attack on residents of Pont-Sondé on Oct. 3 was one of the biggest massacres that Haiti has seen in recent history.

Myriam Fièvre, mayor of the nearby city of Saint-Marc, said Wednesday that the toll had risen to 115 and would likely keep rising because authorities are still looking for bodies and haven’t been able to access certain areas of the town.

“We are working to make sure that the population is protected,” she said in a phone interview.

The U.N. had previously said that at least 70 people were killed last week when the Gran Grif gang invaded the town in the central Artibonite region.

The victims included babies, young mothers and the elderly, with the gang approaching Pont-Sondé via canoes to catch residents by surprise, according to a local human rights group.

Survivors have questioned why authorities did not do anything to stop the attack since the gang had warned in a video posted on social media that it planned to target Pont-Sondé.

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A day after the attack, officials replaced the police commissioner who oversees the Artibonite region, which has seen a surge of gang violence in recent years, with at least 20 criminal groups operating in the area, according to the U.N.

More than 6,200 survivors have fled Pont-Sondé and temporarily settled in the coastal city of Saint-Marc and surrounding areas.

A majority of them are staying with relatives, but more than 750 others have nowhere to go and are sleeping on the floors of a church, a school and a public plaza in Saint-Marc, according to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration.

As Saint-Marc struggles with the sudden influx of people, Fièvre warned that the Gran Grif gang is infiltrating nearby communities after attacking Pont-Sondé.

Haiti’s National Human Rights Defense Network has said the gang was angry that a local self-defense group was trying to limit gang activity in Pont-Sondé and prevent it from profiting off a makeshift road toll it had recently established nearby.

Gran Grif has about 100 members and has been accused of crimes including murder, rape, robberies and kidnappings. It was formed after former legislator Prophane Victor began arming young men nearly a decade ago to secure his election and control of the area, according to the U.N

Victor and the Gran Grif leader, Luckson Elan, were sanctioned by the U.S. last month. Elan also was sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council, which noted that Gran Grif “is the largest and most powerful” gang in Artibonite, committing nine mass kidnappings from October 2023 to January 2024, including that of 157 people.

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Sanon reported from Port-au-Prince, Haiti