The United Nations has pulled staff out of two districts in southern Malawi where a vampire scare has triggered mob violence in which at least five people have been killed. 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 Malawi in 2002. 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 UNDSS report said the vampirism rumours appear to have originated in neighbouring Mozambique, although it was not clear what had sparked them.

Source: The Guardian October 09, 2017 18:11 UTC