PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haitian mobs fearing a cholera epidemic have killed people whom they had accused of trying to spread the disease, including through witchcraft, police say.

''A dozen people accused of importing cholera to a region that so far has been spared were killed with machetes and stones and their corpses were burned in the streets,'' a police inspector said.

Divine help ... a woman sings at a church service in Port-au-Prince. Credit:Reuters

A prosecutor, Kesner Numa, said: ''These people are accused of witchcraft related to cholera.'' The attackers believed the victims were trying to ''plant a substance that spreads the disease in the region''.

The first lynching cases took place last week. ''Since then we have had cases every day,'' the prosecutor said.