At least 70 killed in deadly armed gang attack as thousands flee homes in fear

Thousands of people have fled their homes following a deadly attack at the hands of heavily armed gang members looking to "steal and burn".

The 's migration agency has said that nearly 6,300 people have been displaced following the attack in Pont-Sonde, central , which killed 70 people on Thursday, October 3. Many Haitians left in the middle of the night, with locals telling the Associated Press that members "came in shooting and breaking into the houses to steal and burn".

Bodies could be seen lining the streets in the community, Bertide Harace, spokeswoman for the Commission for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Awareness to Save the Artibonite, said following the attack, adding that a young mother, her newborn baby and a midwife were among the dead.

Sonise Mirano, 60, who was camping with hundreds of people in a park in the nearby coastal city of Saint-Marc, said on Sunday that they "just had time to grab my children and run in the dark". Initial estimates put the number of those killed at 20 people, but activists and government officials discovered more bodies as they accessed areas of the town.

The International Organisation for Migration said in a report that 90 percent of those displaced by the shocking attacks are now staying with relatives, while 12 percent have found refuge in public buildings like schools. Garry Conille, Haiti's Prime Minister, vowed in a statement on Friday that the government would bring the perpetrators of the horror incident to justice, with the UN and telling of their shock.

Mr Conville said: "It is necessary to arrest them, bring them to justice, and put them in prison. They need to pay for what they have done, and the victims need to receive restitution." The UN Human Rights Office of the Commissioner said in a statement that it was "horrified by Thursday's gang attacks", with an EU representative saying they marked "yet another escalation in the extreme violence these criminal groups are inflicting on the Haitian people".

Haiti's government deployed an elite police unit based in the capital of Port-au-Prince to Pont-Sonde following the attack and sent medical supplies to help the area's lone hospital. Police will remain in the area for as long as it takes to guarantee safety, Mr Conille said, adding that he did not know whether it would take a day or a month.