MIAMI– A charter flight carrying dozens of U.S. citizens fleeing mounting gang violence in Haiti landed in Miami on Sunday, U.S. State Department officials said.
More than 30 U.S. citizens were on the government-chartered flight, officials said in a statement. It arrived at Miami International Airport after the US embassy in Port-au-Prince earlier this month urged US citizens to leave “as soon as possible” as chaos grips Haiti.
Passenger Avlot Quessa, who lives in Boston, traveled from the center of the country to board the charter flight after heading to Haiti last month for a weeklong trip to visit his mother.
“It’s just terrible… You can only imagine the suffering,” Quessa told the Miami Herald of the nearby Caribbean country. “Haiti is my homeland and it is very stressful to see the homeland going through this act of violence and destruction… and they are our neighbors.”
Haiti’s main airport, Port-au-Prince, remains closed after gang attacks that rampaged through Haiti in recent weeks, pushing many people to the brink of famine. Government and aid agencies reported looting of aid supplies this weekend as the situation worsened.
The State Department announced Saturday that it would offer limited charter flights for U.S. citizens from the less chaotic northern city of Cap-Haïtien.
One of the Avlot Quessa, who lives in Boston, traveled from the center of the country to make the flight. He said his Feb. 27 trip to visit his mother in Hinche in the Central Plateau would last only a week.
Officials said they could not provide ground transportation to Cap-Haïtien and that U.S. citizens should consider the charter flights only “if you believe you can reach Cap-Haïtien airport safely.”
“We encourage U.S. citizens still in Haiti who wish to leave to contact the Department of State using the crisis intake form on our website, if they have not already done so,” the agency said.
People who take the U.S. government-coordinated flights must sign a promissory note agreeing to reimburse the government.
Another passenger on Sunday’s flight, Marie Lucie St. Fleur, 69, of West Palm Beach, said she feels most at home in Haiti and is pained to see what her home country is facing.
“I don’t feel well at all. I would like to live in my country, but that is not possible,” she said while sitting in a wheelchair.
The State Department said government officials in Miami were helping newly arrived evacuees determine their next steps.
The U.S. military last week deployed additional troops to bolster security at the U.S. Embassy, which is located in a neighborhood largely controlled by gangs.
