A vampire scare in Southern Malawi has triggered a mob violence which has seen at least five people dead. The United Nations has since pulled out two of its districts in the Southern part of the Country, Reuters report.
“These
districts have severely been affected by the ongoing stories of blood sucking
and possible existence of vampires,” read part of a statement by the U.N.
Department on Safety and Security (UNDSS).
Witchcraft belief is widespread in especially rural parts of Malawi. Vampire rumors were also reported to have erupted in the country back in 2002.
“UNDSS is continuing to monitor the situation closely to ensure all affected UN staff are back in the field as soon as possible,” said Florence Rolle, the Acting UN Resident Coordinator.
“Some UN staff have relocated while others
are still in the districts depending on locations of their operations” she said
in an email responding to the vampire reports. She however did not mention how
many workers had been relocated.
Security concerns in the country have been raised as mobs have been mounting road blocks in search of the vampires.
The UNDSS report said that the mobs have killed at least five people accusing them of being vampires. The reports also said that they were not sure of what had sparked the rumors, but indicated that the vampire rumors seemed to have come from Mozambique, a neighboring country.
“This development has been of grave concern
to the President and the entire Government,” said the Malawian President, Peter
Mutharika who termed the reports as “distressing and agonizing”.
