As Haiti spirals into chaos after weeks of gang violence, the first rescue charter flight took off from the Caribbean nation and landed in Miami Sunday afternoon, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News.
All 47 passengers on board are believed to be Americans and the flight was reserved only for those who had U.S. passports, the official said.
An armed member of the G9 and Family gang rolls a tire to burn at a roadblock in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
The flight took off from the city of Cap-Haïtien, about a five-and-a-half-hour drive north from the capital of Port-au-Prince, which is largely under the control of gangs.
The U.S. State Department announced the charter flight on X Saturday, providing a link for an application for those who wanted to get on it. It warned that U.S. citizens should consider the flight only if they could reach the Cap-Haïtien airport safely.
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This comes days after the State Department said there were no immediate plans to evacuate American citizens, citing the many warnings not to travel to Haiti over the last four years.
Meanwhile, the non-profit Project Dynamo is working on rescuing at least 40 Americans by air or sea. It’s not clear if any of those people were on board Sunday’s charter flight.
Members of the General Security Unit of the National Palace, USGPN, set up a security perimeter around one of the three downtown stations after police fought off an attack by gangs the day before, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
The State Department says it is aware of at least several hundred more American citizens who are still stuck in Haiti.
Sunday’s flight comes after the U.S. flew in military forces to beef up security and evacuate non-essential personnel at the American embassy.
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The United States flew in military forces last week to beef up security at the American Embassy and seemingly quash speculation that senior U.S. government officials might be leaving.
Pedestrians and commuters fill a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Gangs have raged through Haiti in recent weeks, attacking key institutions and shutting down the main international airport. The chaos has pushed many Haitians to the brink of famine and left many more in increasingly desperate conditions.
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The violence has left Haiti’s government in a state of turmoil and prompted Prime Minister Ariel Henry to pledge that he would resign once a key transitional council was in place.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.