Pétion-Ville is the last place in Haiti where life looks normal. In this breezy hilltop suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince, merengue music floats from neighbourhood bars, and young men play basketball in a park. But the sound of gunshots can still shatter otherwise peaceful afternoons; from the city below, smoke drifts in on the wind. 

In 2021 Haiti’s president was assassinated, creating a power vacuum. Two years later the country’s most powerful gang leaders formed an alliance. They now control most of Port-au-Prince. Haiti’s beleaguered government forces have retreated to Pétion-Ville, which has become their stronghold, as well as a haven for the city’s political elites. The neighbourhood is protected, in part, by the Massif de la Selle mountain range, towering more than a thousand feet (300 metres) above sea level.

Beneath Haiti’s Mount Olympus, chaos reigns. Although still nominally under state control, the slopes below Pétion-Ville are a contested area, known as the “yellow zone”. Gangs dart in and out to murder or kidnap people, disappearing before the police have time to react. Refugees from elsewhere in the city live in ramshackle camps and overcrowded apartments, with up to 20 people sometimes crammed into one room. 

Beyond the yellow zone is true gang territory. “This is the moment that everything around you changes,” said Jelle Krings, a Dutch photographer. In December Krings embedded with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), documenting the everyday lives of people in Port-au-Prince. He spent three days at Tabarre hospital, an MSF-run trauma facility on the border between the yellow zone and the gangs’ domain.