UN staff flee Malawi after six people are killed for allegedly ‘being vampires'

• The United Nations has pulled staff out of southern Malawi
• This is after six people were lynched for allegedly being vampires
• Vigilante violence linked to vampire rumours also erupted in Malawi in 2002

The United Nations has pulled staff out of southern Malawi after a superstitious 'lynch mob' killed at least six people 'for being vampires.’

More than 100 riot officers were drafted into the region in response to the killings, but terrified armed mobs continued hunting for 'vampires' on the streets and set-up road blocks.

Malawi Police Service said the victims had been accused of trying to suck people's blood as part of magic rituals.

UN staff fled from two districts in the south of the country this week after six people were killed in three separate incidents in the area surrounding Mulanje Mountain.

The most recent attack happened at the weekend when an angry mob beat two people to death because they “suspected the two (victims) of being blood suckers,” police spokesman James Kadadzera said.

The victims were travelling to pray close to the mountain when they were intercepted by a violent crowd on their way through a village.

In another incident a local chief was killed by a mob who accused him of colluding with 'blood suckers.'

Kadadzera has condemned the rumours and called on vigilantes to stop.

“There is no evidence," he said. "We blame communities for taking the law into their hands..nobody has come to police to complain.

“We are reminding people that rumors about blood suckers have been there since time immemorial but no case has ever been proven."

The UN Department on Safety and Security (UNDSS) said in a security report on the Phalombe and Mulanje districts: "These districts have severely been affected by the ongoing stories of blood sucking and possible existence of vampires."

The Acting UN Resident Coordinator, Florence Rolle, said that based on the report that "some UN staff have relocated while others are still in the districts depending on locations of their operations.

"UNDSS is continuing to monitor the situation closely to ensure all affected UN staff are back in the field as soon as possible."

Rolle did not say how many workers had been relocated.

The UNDSS report said at least five people had been killed in the area since mid-September by lynch mobs accusing them of vampirism.

The death toll is now expected to be higher after further attacks at the weekend.

It said mobs searching for vampires have been mounting road blocks in the district, raising security concerns.

Malawian President Peter Mutharika said the reports were "distressing and agonising".

"This development has been of grave concern to the President and the entire Government," his office said in a statement.

The UNDSS report said the vampirism rumours appear to have originated in neighbouring Mozambique, although it was not clear what had sparked them.

It recommended the "temporary suspension of U.N. activities in the area until the situation is normalized".

It said some NGOs had pulled personnel from the districts and temporarily suspended their programmes but did not name the organisations.

Belief in witchcraft is widespread in rural Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries, where many aid agencies and NGOs work.

A spate of vigilante violence linked to vampire rumours also erupted in Mala