PETITE-RIVIÈRE DE L’ARTIBONITE — At least 30 people were killed when the Gran Grif gang attacked Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite early Sunday, burning homes and leaving bodies strewn on the streets. The gang attacked again on Monday and remained in control of the Jean-Denis neighborhood, where they set up roadblocks, according to a spokesperson.

Dozens of people were reported missing after the gang attack on Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite.

"The area is completely deserted. Only the gangs have control," said Bertide Horace, spokesperson for the Commission for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Awareness to Save the Artibonite. Her organization has collected at least 30 bodies and is investigating reports of people missing, according to a spokesperson.

"Communication is very bad over there," Horace said.

Officers backed by Kenyan police leading a U.N.-supported mission helped rescue people in the Jean-Denis neighborhood but were delayed because gangs had dug large holes to prevent police from entering, according to a police statement. Police reported that at least 16 people were killed and 10 others were injured by gunfire, according to a police statement.

Antonal Mortimé told Radio Caraïbes that 70 people were believed killed based on reports from activists on the ground, according to a human rights lawyer. Estimates of people killed and injured can vary widely in the immediate aftermath of gang attacks in Haiti because of limited communication and authorities' inability to enter the area.

Gran Grif attacked Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite nearly a year ago, forcing dozens of people to swim and wade across the country's longest river to escape. In October 2024, more than 70 people were killed in the central town of Pont-Sondé.

Gangs control an estimated 90% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and have seized control of swaths of land in Haiti's central region. The United Nations human rights office earlier this year described the gangs' consolidation of control in the capital and neighboring areas as unprecedented.

The United Nations human rights office said more than 5,500 people were killed in Haiti from March 1, 2025, to Jan. 15. Gran Grif was formed after Prophane Victor began arming young men in the region, according to a U.N. report.