Nearly 6,300 people flee their homes in the aftermath of an attack in Haiti

Nearly 6,300 people have fled their homes in the aftermath of an attack in central Haiti by heavily armed gang members that killed at least 70 people, according to the U.N.’s migration agency.

Nearly 90% of the displaced are staying with relatives in host families, while 12% have found refuge in other sites including a school and parks, the International Organization for Migration said in a report last week.

The attack in Pont-Sondé happened in the early hours of Thursday morning, and many left on foot in the middle of the night taking only their children and other family members.

Bodies lay strewn on the streets of Pont-Sondé following the attack in the Artibonite region, many of them killed by a shot to the head, Bertide Harace, spokeswoman for the Commission for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Awareness to Save the Artibonite, told local media.

Those without shelter in the park of Saint Marc complain they are hungry and that food and water distribution is still deficient.

Every container with rice and beans and every bottle of water is heavily disputed.

Displaced women sat with their children and talked about overhearing gunfire and men breaking into houses and shooting at people.

On Friday, Prime Minister Gary Conille, visited Saint-Marc and vowed that the perpetrators would face the full force of the law in comments in Saint-Marc.

Gang violence across Artibonite, which produces much of Haiti’s food, has increased in recent years. Since that uptick, Thursday’s attack is one of the biggest massacres.

Similar ones have taken place in the capital of Port-au-Prince, 80% of which is controlled by gangs, and they typically are linked to turf wars, with gang members targeting civilians in areas controlled by rivals.

Many neighborhoods are not safe, and people affected by the violence have not been able to return home, even if their houses have not been destroyed.

More than 700,000 people — more than half of whom are children — are now internally displaced across Haiti, according to the International Organization for Migration in an Oct. 2 statement.

That was an increase of 22% since June.