First charter flight from Haiti brings U.S. residents to Miami
The first charter flight carrying Americans out of Haiti amid gang violence in the country landed in the United States on Sunday, officials said. File Photo by Johnson Sabin/EPA-EFE
March 18 (UPI) — Passengers from the first charter flight to leave Haiti in about two weeks landed at the Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon. A flight attendant told CBS News that about 47 people were on board the Global X flight that left the port city of Cap-Haitien in northern Haiti Sunday.
“We will continue to assist U.S. citizens as long as commercial options remain unavailable and the security environment permits us to do so,” the U.S. State Department told CBS News.
A spokesperson for the department said it is not clear how many Americans are still left in the country.
“U.S. citizens are not required to register their travel to a foreign country with us, so we cannot track with fidelity how many U.S. citizens are in any particular country,” the spokesperson said.
The State Department posted plans for the exit flights on social media and its website in addition to sending out emails.
Haiti has descended into chaos with street gangs controlling most of the country. The United States and other countries have been trying to get their residents to leave.
The United States last week started airlifting staff members from its embassy in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince after gang violence increased. U.S. Central Command said that officials had ordered all non-essential personnel out of the embassy.
Gangs continued to hold the country, which is under a state of emergency. Troubled Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned from office pending the installation of a new government.
