Are Miracles Real? With Most Murders In The World, El Salvador Praises God For Day Without Killings

They are calling it a "miracle from God." El Salvador, home to the world's highest murder rate, marked Wednesday its first day without a homicide in two years.

The nation battling gang violence typically sees 10 murders a day. In fact, El Salvador has the highest murder rate of any country not at war. That means the last time El Salvador, a small nation home to 6 million people, went a full 24 hours without a murder being reported was Jan. 22, 2015. Before that, the previous day without a murder happened in 2013.

The so-called miracle came after 99 murders were reported during the first 11 days of 2017. It's so unusual that El Salvadoran police said they couldn't explain why nobody was killed. National Civil Police Commissioner Howard Cotto announced the rare occurrence during a press conference Thursday.

There were 104 murders per 100,000 residents in 2015. In 2016, homicides dropped by about 20 percent last year, but the nation the size of Massachusetts remained one of the most violent countries in the world, with 81.2 murders per 100,000 residents.

El Salvador's street gangs are known for murders, gang rape, drug trafficking, extortion and revenge attacks. They also go after law enforcement officials. Gang members killed more than 60 police officers in 2015, nearly double the number of police slayings in 2014.

Gang members are identifiable by their many symbolic facial and body tattoos. The most powerful gangs, Mara Salvatrucha and the 18th Street gang, have members all over the world.

The violence has fuled immigration in the United States. Since 2014, nearly a quarter-million Salvadoran migrants have been stopped by U.S. and Mexican immigration officials.

Vice President Óscar Ortiz promised this week to lead a “frontal fight” against violence. “A criminal group cannot compete with the state,” Ortiz said. “This year we will deepen the blows to criminal structures.”