THE leader of Haiti’s transitional presidential council tried to calm fears on Thursday over rampant gang violence by acknowledging that the country had “become hell for everyone” and promising new measures to stop the bloodshed.

Fritz Alphonse Jean spoke a day after gunfire erupted in the capital, Port-au-Prince, as thousands of protesters demanding an end to gang violence clashed with police outside the offices of the council and the prime minister. 

It was the biggest protest held since the council was installed a year ago.