The civilian death toll from street fighting in downtown Kingston reached 44 on Wednesday night and was expected to climb further as Jamaican security forces continued their drive to flush out alleged drugs baron Christopher “Dudus” Coke.
This followed a visit by an independent assessment team to the Tivoli Gardens district, scene of the worst fighting, which described appalling conditions for residents trapped in houses.
Public defender Earl Witter said the majority of the corpses at the morgue appeared to be those of males under 30, and the dead included no women.
Four soldiers and police have also died in three days of violence after the storming of the ghetto on Monday in search of Coke (42), wanted on drugs and gun-running charges in the United States, where he faces a life sentence.
At least 37 people are reported to have been injured. The ministry of national security said police had more than 500 people, mostly men, in custody after the Tivoli operation but Coke is still at large.
Many of the victims are believed to have been gunmen loyal to Coke, the alleged leader of the notorious Shower Posse gang, but unarmed bystanders were also caught up in the violence.
Witter said residents, trapped in their houses, were in desperate need of help. “They complained that they were bottled up inside the buildings that were cleared,” he said. “There was no running water. Bodily waste was stored in pails.
“In a section called Rasta City there were some 30 children, many of them toddlers, who needed particular care.”
One resident in west Kingston implored reporters: “We get no food. Like dog. Hungry.” But journalists trying to enter the area were met by soldiers who trained assault rifles on their vehicles and ordered them back.
On Wednesday bulldozers were brought in to clear the makeshift barricades of sandbags, barbed wire and junked cars thrown up by Coke’s supporters.
More than 2 000 soldiers and police were involved in the operation launched on Monday after Jamaica finally agreed to a request made by the US nine months ago for Coke’s extradition.
He had built up a vast arsenal as well as strong support among residents in his west Kingston stronghold. Locals call him “the president” and rely on him for the means to provide food and schooling.
One placard seen at a barricade read: “Jesus died for us. We will die for Dudus.” —