A group of 13 suspected gang members has been beaten and burned to death by a mob in Haiti’s capital after being seized while police were searching their vehicle.
The suspects were reportedly beaten with gasoline-soaked tyres before being set alight in Port-au-Prince on Monday.
Police say they confiscated weapons from them just before the incident. They have not explained how members of the public got hold of the suspects.
The violence started before dawn, when gang members burst into several residential areas of the capital, looting homes and attacking residents, according to witnesses in the Canape-Vert district.
“It was the sound of projectiles that woke us up this morning. It was 3:00 am, the gangs invaded us. There were shots,” a resident of the neighboring district of Turgeau told AFP news agency. “If the gangs come to invade us, we will defend ourselves, we too have our own weapons, we have our machetes, we will take their weapons, we will not flee,” another resident told AFP.
Police spokesperson Gary Desrosiers said that the lynched individuals were a group of armed bandits traveling in a vehicle in the capital, and the police had sought to arrest them. He also confirmed that in a separate incident, notorious crime boss Carlo Petithomme — who led a gang known as Ti Makak — was dead.
Ooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you
