More than 50 kidnapped as violent gang attack in Haiti leaves 47 dead

BREAKING: A violent gang attack in Haiti leaves 47 dead and more than 50 kidnapped, one of the largest mass kidnappings in the country in years, with a gang leader threatening to kill the hostages.

Forty seven people are dead after a gang attack in Haiti.

More than fifty others were kidnapped in the same assault, one of the largest mass abductions the country has seen in years. This is Haiti, where armed gangs already control large parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and where communities like this one have been living under their grip for years.

The gang leader behind the attack is now threatening to kill the hostages. Fifty people, held by the group that just killed forty seven of their neighbours, with their lives being used as leverage.

Haiti's police are overwhelmed, the state is barely present in gang-held territory, and an international security mission has struggled to change that. Tonight, more than fifty families are waiting to learn if the people taken from them come home.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.