Gang members armed with automatic weapons stormed into the small town of Pont-Sondé in central Haiti around 3 a.m. Thursday and started setting houses on fire.

“As people rushed out of their houses, they were shot,” said Ravina Shamdasani, chief spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office.

When the violence ended, at least 70 people — including 10 women and three infants — were dead, while hundreds of others ran for their lives.

Among the victims were three newborn boys and 24 people found in a nearby ravine, Shamdasani added. Entire families were wiped out and several people are still missing, according to an investigative report by the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights, a prominent civil rights organization in Haiti. The organization faulted authorities for a poor response time and not acting on widespread rumors about the attack.

— The New York Times