PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti >> Heavily armed gangs in Haiti have attacked a neighborhood that’s home to most of the country’s elite and had been largely untouched by criminals, and police have demanded help repelling the assault that has killed at least 40 people.

“It’s been eight days since Kenscoff has been under attack,” Mayor Jean Massillon told The Associated Press on Monday. He blamed the attack on the Viv Ansanm gang coalition, with gunmen going home to home and indiscriminately opening fire.

“As we speak, they have surrounded the area,” Massillon said as he called for reinforcements.

The dead include pastors, teachers and children, although the number is expected to be higher because authorities haven’t been able to reach certain parts of the neighborhood, which is home to many politicians and business leaders.

Many victims are working-class people who tend crops on the outskirts of the neighborhood in the foothills of a mountain range.

Gangs already control 85% of Port-au-Prince, and the United Nations secretary-general warned last month they could overrun the capital.

The assault on Kenscoff occurred days after the government and police warned about imminent attacks in the capital, but the warnings did not say where they might occur.

Jean Bertho Valmo, a 45-year-old farmer who fled Kenscoff, told the AP that 12 members of one family were among the dead.

He said he woke to another round of gunfire before dawn Monday. He and his family sought shelter in the yard of the mayor’s office along with dozens of others.