The US embassy in Haiti said that Haiti’s main airport was temporarily closed on Monday as gangs tried to take control of it, on the same day that a new interim prime minister was expected to take over the country as it faces a surge in violence.
Gun clashes broke out between gangs and police in parts of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, with heavily armed officers hiding behind walls while civilians ran in terror. In other upper-class neighborhoods, gangs set fire to homes.
The U.S. Embassy in Haiti issued a travel warning, saying the city’s airport had been closed due to “gang-led efforts to prevent travel to and from Port-au-Prince, which may include armed violence, and disruption of roads, ports, and ports.” Airports.”
It comes after reports that mobs opened fire on a Spirit Airlines flight, sharing photos with The Associated Press of bullet holes in the plane, though the Associated Press could not immediately confirm the incident with authorities.
Spirit Airlines said in a statement to Reuters that a plane was damaged after being hit by gunfire and was taken out of service upon landing in the northern Dominican city of Santiago. The airline said that a flight attendant was injured in the accident, but none of the passengers were injured.
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The unrest comes a day after a council aimed at re-establishing democratic order in the Caribbean nation dismissed interim Prime Minister Gary Connell, who had been at loggerheads with the council, and replaced him with businessman Alex Didier Fils-Aime. The council witnessed internal conflicts, and three of its members were recently accused of corruption.
—With files from Reuters
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
