Haitians attempting to escape the escalating violence and fled to neighboring Dominican Republic have been rounded up and deported inside caged police vans.
Gangs attacked two upscale neighborhoods near the capitol city of Port-au-Prince and killed at least two dozen people in the rampage on Monday.
Gunmen looted homes in the communities of Laboule and Thomassin before sunrise, forcing residents to flee as some called radio stations pleading for police.
‘We woke up this morning to find bodies in the street in our community of Pétionville,’ Douce Titi, who works at the mayor’s office, told the Associated Press.
‘Ours is not that kind of community. We will start working to remove those bodies before the children start walking by to go to school and the vendors start to arrive.’
Haitians attempting to escape the escalating violence and fled to neighboring Dominican Republic have been rounded up and deported
The Dominican Republic maintains vigilance at its border as violence rocks Haiti
People and cars pass by the covered body of a person who was shot dead in Port-au-Prince on Monday
On Mondays and Fridays, the Dominican Republic opens its border to Haitians who want to shop at the food market located at the end of the border bridge
The Dominican government has been deporting troves of Haitians who try to overstay their welcome and advised Haitians not to seek refuge in their territory of Hispaniola
Haiti’s power company announced on Monday that four substations in the capital and elsewhere ‘were destroyed and rendered completely dysfunctional’
Haiti’s power company announced on Monday that four substations in the capital and elsewhere ‘were destroyed and rendered completely dysfunctional.’
As a result, swaths of Port-au-Prince were without power, including the Cite Soleil slum, the Croix-des-Bouquets community and a hospital.
The company said criminals also seized important documents, cables, inverters, batteries and other items.
In total, more than 350,000 people have been internally displaced in Haiti and over 15,000 of them in the last two weeks, reported the BBC.
On Mondays and Fridays, the Dominican Republic opens its border to Haitians who want to shop at the food market located at the end of the border bridge.
However, the Dominican government has been deporting troves of Haitians who try to overstay their welcome and advised Haitians not to seek refuge in their territory of Hispaniola.
Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry, 74, resigned on March 12 after gangs warned of civil war and ‘genocide’ if he did not step down amid bloody uprising.
On Saturday, the office of Dominican President Luis Abinader issued a statement saying that ‘Henry is not welcome in the Dominican Republic for safety reasons,’ alluding that his passage in the country could see the violence spread to the other side of the island.
‘Given the current situation, the presence of the Haitian prime minister in the Dominican Republic is not considered appropriate,’ Abinader said Sunday, hours after word spread of the US embassy evacuation.
The politician added that ‘this decision reflects the firm position of the Dominican government to safeguard its national security and stability,’ and billed the security situation in Haiti as ‘totally unsustainable’.
Gangs attacked two upscale neighborhoods near the capitol city of Port-au-Prince and killed at least two dozen people in the rampage on Monday
Gunmen looted homes in the communities of Laboule and Thomassin before sunrise, forcing residents to flee as some called radio stations pleading for police
Haiti’s power also said criminals also seized important documents, cables, inverters, batteries and other items
The relative of a person found dead in the street reacts after an overnight shooting in the Petion Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince
The UN children’s agency chief said the situation in Haiti is the ‘worst in decades’ as millions face famine amid a rise in gang violence and looting
He added that the violence currently being seen in the country ‘poses a direct threat to the safety and stability of the Dominican Republic,’ while predicting ‘the situation could deteriorate even further if a peacekeeping force is not implemented urgently.’
The UN children’s agency chief said the situation in Haiti is the ‘worst in decades’ as millions face famine amid a rise in gang violence and looting.
UNICEF said one of its containers holding ‘essential items for maternal, neonatal, and child survival, including resuscitators and related equipment’ was looted in the capital of Port-au-Prince’s main port on Saturday.
Looting and overall violence has further cut some of the country’s most vulnerable from basic supplies, coming ‘at a critical moment when children need them the most,’ the agency said.
That same day, the Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry said the offices of its honorary consul in Haiti was ransacked, but didn’t give any details of damage or thefts, nor did it say who was responsible.
‘It’s like a scene out of Mad Max. Honestly, that’s what it seems like.
‘Gangs, vigilantes responding to the gangs,’ UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell told CBS News.
‘Many, many people there are suffering from serious hunger and malnutrition and we’re not able to get enough aid to them.’
Gangs have raged through Haiti in recent weeks, attacking key institutions and shutting down the main international airport. The gangs, led by a man nicknamed ‘Barbeque’ have risen to power without clear leadership in the country and the prime minister’s resignation.
Approximately 1.4 million Haitians are on the verge of famine, and more than 4 million require food aid, sometimes eating only once a day or nothing at all, aid groups said.
In total, more than 350,000 people have been internally displaced in Haiti and over 15,000 of them in the last two weeks
Paramedics work to recover the bodies of people killed in the street by gang members
The President of the Dominican Republic has said the violence in Haiti is a direct threat to their country
‘Haiti is facing a protractive and mass hunger,’ Jean-Martin Bauer, Haiti director for the United Nations’ World Food Program, told The Associated Press.
‘We have supplies for weeks. I’m saying weeks, not months, that has me terrified.’
The country’s top gang leader Jimmy ‘Barbeque’ Cherizier has threatened the families of political leaders who would support a planned transition council replacing outgoing PM Aruel Henry.
Haiti Libre reported the Haitian National Police raided Barbeque’s territory on Friday as part of a strategy to unblock roads, seize firearms and facilitate the free movement of citizens.
According to police several gang members were killed during the operation.
There was a major prison breakout of two of the country largest detention facilities leading to the escape of thousands of prisoners, including several notorious gang leaders.
In Port-au-Prince, some hospitals have been forced to close over safety concerns, and only two surgical operating facilities are operational, according to UNICEF.
Shortages of electricity, fuel and medical supplies have affected hospitals nationwide, with six out of ten facilities not able to function.
‘Now they’ve basically taken over the capital, they’ve taken over the airport. What that means for people is that we can’t get aid in again, it’s very difficult for us to do that,’ said Russell.
‘I mean, it’s literally one thing after another for Haiti, and I think right now, it’s the worst that anyone has seen in decades.’
A person lifts a sheet to look at the identity of a body lying on the ground after an overnight shooting in the Petion Ville neighborhood
The country’s top gang leader Jimmy ‘Barbeque’ Cherizier (pictured) has threatened the families of political leaders who would support a planned transition council replacing the ousted prime minister
There was a major prison breakout of two of the country largest detention facilities leading to the escape of thousands of prisoners, including several notorious gang leaders
While Haiti’s main airport in Port-au-Prince remains closed following gang attacks, the U.S. State Department said it would be offering limited charter flights for American citizens from the less chaotic northern city of Cap-Haïtien.
But it warned that U.S. citizens should consider the flights ‘only if you think you can reach Cap-Haïtien airport safely.’
A charter flight carrying dozens of American citizens fleeing spiraling gang violence in Haiti landed in Miami on Sunday, U.S. State Department officials said.
There were 166 seats available on the first flight out of the chaos-ridden nation but just 47 U.S. citizens took up the offer of returning on the government-chartered flight which arrived at Miami International Airport.
The evacuation came after the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince urged U.S. citizens to leave ‘as soon as possible’ as chaos gripped the island nation.