Current:Home > MyFirst charter flight with US citizens fleeing Haiti lands in Miami-LoTradeCoin
First charter flight with US citizens fleeing Haiti lands in Miami
View Date:2024-12-24 00:23:36
MIAMI (AP) — A charter flight carrying dozens of U.S. citizens fleeing spiraling gang violence in Haiti landed Sunday in Miami, 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 in the Miami International Airport after the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince earlier this month urged U.S. 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 going to Haiti last month for was supposed to be a weeklong trip to visit his mother.
“It’s just terrible ... The suffering, you can only imagine,” Quessa told the Miami Herald of the nearby Caribbean nation. “Haiti is my homeland and it’s very stressful to see the homeland going through this act of violence, destruction ... and they are our neighbors.”
Haiti’s main airport in Port-au-Prince remains closed following gang attacks that have raged through Haiti in recent weeks, pushing many people to the brink of famine. Government and aid agencies this weekend reported looting of aid supplies as the situation worsened.
The State Department announced Saturday that it would offer limited charter flights for American citizens from the less chaotic northern city of Cap-Haïtien.
Officials said they could not provide ground transportation to Cap-Haïtien and that U.S. citizens should consider the charter flights “only if you think you can reach Cap-Haïtien airport safely.”
“We encourage U.S. citizens still in Haiti who seek to depart 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 taking the U.S. government-coordinated flights must sign a promissory bill 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 it pains her to see what her homeland is enduring.
“I don’t feel well at all. I would like to live in my country and I can’t,” she said while sitting in a wheelchair.
The State Department said government officials in Miami were helping the newly arrived evacuees to determine their next steps.
The U.S. military last week flew in additional forces to bolster security at the U.S. Embassy, which is in a neighborhood largely controlled by gangs.
veryGood! (8411)
Related
- The Daily Money: All about 'Doge.'
- Taylor Swift fan captures video of film crew following her onstage at London Eras Tour
- Christina Hall and Taylor El Moussa Enjoy a Mother-Daughter Hair Day Amid Josh Hall Divorce
- Taylor Swift praises Post Malone, 'Fortnight' collaborator, for his 'F-1 Trillion' album
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom will spend part of week in DC as he tries to Trump-proof state policies
- Haley Joel Osment Reveals Why He Took a Break From Hollywood In Rare Life Update
- Watch: Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey nails 66-yard field goal
- Who plays Emily, Sylvie, Gabriel and Camille in 'Emily in Paris'? See full Season 4 cast
- South Carolina to take a break from executions for the holidays
- Possible work stoppage at Canada’s two largest railroads could disrupt US supply chain next week
Ranking
- Taylor Swift gifts 7-year-old '22' hat after promising to meet her when she was a baby
- Bronze statue of John Lewis replaces more than 100-year-old Confederate monument
- Greenidge Sues New York State Environmental Regulators, Seeking to Continue Operating Its Dresden Power Plant
- The Democratic National Convention is here. Here’s how to watch it
- FSU football fires offensive, defensive coordinators, wide receivers coach
- Harris and Trump offer worlds-apart contrasts on top issues in presidential race
- A hunter’s graveyard shift: grabbing pythons in the Everglades
- Ukrainian forces left a path of destruction in the Kursk operation. AP visited a seized Russian town
Recommendation
-
GM recalling big pickups and SUVs because the rear wheels can lock up, increasing risk of a crash
-
Jana Duggar, oldest Duggar daughter, marries Stephen Wissmann: 'Dream come true'
-
Monday's rare super blue moon is a confounding statistical marvel
-
Thousands of activists expected in Chicago for Democratic convention to call for Gaza ceasefire
-
Young Black and Latino men say they chose Trump because of the economy and jobs. Here’s how and why
-
Hurricane Ernesto makes landfall on Bermuda as a category 1 storm
-
Simone Biles cheers husband Jonathan Owens at Bears' game. Fans point out fashion faux pas
-
‘Alien: Romulus’ bites off $41.5 million to top box office charts