Insecurity weighed on All Saints' Day on November 1 and the Day of the Dead on November 2 in Haiti, especially in the Port-au-Prince area, where some cemeteries drew far fewer visitors than usual, Le National reported.

The Grand Cimetière of Port-au-Prince, long a major gathering place for Vodou practitioners during the Gede celebrations, is now “practically inaccessible” because armed groups control the area, the newspaper wrote. Attendance was also low at the Drouillard cemetery in Cité Soleil.

Traditionally, families gather in cemeteries at this time of year to clean and decorate graves, lay flowers, light candles and pray, while Vodou practitioners honor the Gede, the spirits of death and cemeteries, with songs, drums, dances, invocations and offerings.

Outside the capital, the celebrations went ahead: in Léogâne, the Tanp Asòtò temple held its traditional Gede dance in Dampus on November 1, Le National reported.