Karl Juste/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service/Getty Images
Francis St. Alma, a Miami native, was one of the passengers on the first evacuation flight from Cap-Haitien, Haiti, that landed at Miami International Airport on Sunday.
CNN
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With Haiti still paralyzed by escalating gang violence and political instability, once-bustling streets deserted and necessities like food and gasoline in short supply, dozens of Americans have been sent to the State Department. They are being evacuated from Haiti on a chartered flight.
The flight departed from Cap-Haitien on Haiti's north coast on Sunday and landed at Miami International Airport, the State Department said. More than 30 Americans are on board, and government officials are currently “assisting with next steps,” a State Department spokesperson said.
However, there are still many Americans in the country. Missionary Jill Dolan and his family in Port-au-Prince feel like they are “sinking into quicksand,” their organization wrote in a Facebook post over the weekend. “But we are grateful to be alive.”
The State Department will continue to assist Americans seeking to leave Haiti “as long as commercial options are not available and the security environment allows,” the spokesperson said.
Cap-Haitien is more than 100 miles from Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, and its airport is under siege by gangs as fighting continues between clansmen and police in the surrounding area.
The crisis in Haiti intensified earlier this month as rival gangs began wreaking organized havoc, according to security officials. The gangs are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who last week said he would step down after the formation of a yet-to-be-formed interim council.
“The security situation in Haiti is unpredictable and dangerous,” the State Department said in a statement Saturday announcing the flight and warning of dangers along the land route from Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haitien.
“We recommend that you only consider flying to Cap-Haitien if you are confident that you can arrive safely at Cap-Haitien Airport,” the statement said. “We cannot offer land travel to Cap-Haitien from other parts of Haiti.”
With danger on almost every street in Port-au-Prince, Dolan and his relatives are hiding in a guesthouse near the closed airport, CNN affiliate WPTV reported. Families are also documenting their experiences online through Love a Neighbor, a nonprofit organization that oversees orphanages, nursing homes, and family preservation projects in rural Haiti.
“You generally hear a lot of gunshots at night,” she told WPTV. “I hear you a lot. Yesterday there was a lot during the day. So you never know.”
One of Dolan's daughters is planning a wedding in Florida later this month, and the rest of her family told the station they booked tickets to the United States weeks before violence escalated in Haiti. Most airlines have suspended flights to and from the country, leaving those tickets unused.
The United Nations estimates that gangs now control 80% of Port-au-Prince, severely restricting food, fuel and water supplies across the city. The Haitian National Police continues to fight, fighting to reclaim land block by block.
However, police face limited resources and have been targeted by violence, with several police stations attacked or set on fire in the past two weeks.
This is a developing story and will be updated.