Haiti gang massacre death toll rises

The death toll from a gang attack on residents of the town of Pont-Sondé in Haiti has risen to 115 people, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. Last week, the United Nations reported that 70 people died in the attack. The death toll will likely continue to rise as authorities investigate parts of the town they haven’t yet been able to canvas, the Associated Press noted, citing a local official.

What else is going on in Haiti? Haiti has grown increasingly destabilized in recent months as criminal gangs run rampant across the country. Gangs continue to control roughly 80 percent of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, Human Rights Watch reported Wednesday. The anarchic tyranny of gang warfare over the past year has closed roughly 1,000 schools across the country. That’s kept around 160,000 children from receiving education or school-provided meals, the organization added.

Many children have told Human Right Watch they turned to gangs as a way to alleviate extreme starvation. Gangs have also actively recruited boys as young as 10 years old, the organization added. Gangs have also forced girls as young as 14 to serve as sex slaves and workers, humanitarian workers said.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report about UN outrage following the attack on Pont-Sondé last week.