Haiti’s international airport shut down temporarily on Monday after gangs opened fire at a Spirit Airlines flight landing in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department and the airline said. The latest violence came as a new prime minister was sworn in.
The flight, headed from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Port-au-Prince, was hit multiple times by gunfire as it was set to land in Haiti’s capital, striking a flight attendant, who suffered minor injuries. Photos and videos obtained by The Associated Press show bullet holes dotting the interior of a plane.
Haiti’s main airport also temporarily shut down Monday as gangs attempted to seize control, the United States Embassy reported, the same day a new interim prime minister was expected to take over the direction of a country facing a surge of violence.
In other parts of Haiti’s capital, firefights between gangs and police broke out. Rounds of gunfire echoed through the streets as heavily armed officers ducked behind walls and civilians ran in terror. In other upper class areas, gangs set fire to homes. Schools closed as panic spread in a number of areas.
The U.S. Embassy in Haiti issued a travel warning saying that the city’s airport was shut down due to “gang-led efforts to block travel to and from Port-au-Prince, which may include armed violence and disruptions to roads, ports and airports.”
“The U.S. Embassy is aware of a temporary pause in operations at [Toussiant Louverture International Airport] as of Nov. 11,” the embassy’s statement said. “The security situation in Haiti is unpredictable and dangerous.”
Several airlines cancel flights
A video circulating on social media, which appears to have been taken by a Spirit employee but which Reuters was unable to immediately verify, shows where a bullet had come through near the back exit door to then strike the overhead bin across the aisle.
Spirit said in a statement that the plane had been damaged and taken out of commission upon being diverted to the northern Dominican city of Santiago. The passengers aboard the Spirit flight on Monday were to be taken back in another aircraft to Fort Lauderdale, where the flight departed from, Spirit said.
The airline also said it had suspended flights to Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien, in Haiti’s north, “pending further evaluation.”
JetBlue and American Airlines will cancel flights through Thursday, the airlines said separately, and will monitor the situation to determine whether more cancellations may be needed.
On Monday, suit-clad diplomats and security officials flocked to the swearing-in ceremony for Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, set to take place in the afternoon.
The country has seen weeks of political chaos, which observers warned could result in even more violence in a place where bloodshed has become the new normal. The country’s slate of gangs have long capitalized on political turmoil to make power grabs, shutting down airports, shipping ports and stirring chaos.
The transitional council was established in April, tasked with choosing Haiti’s next prime minister and cabinet with the hope that it would help quell violence, which exploded after Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021.
The council was meant to pave the way to democratic elections, which haven’t been held in years in Haiti. Gangs have capitalized on that power vacuum to make their own power grabs.
But the council has been plagued with politics and infighting, and has long been at odds with Garry Conille, the interim prime minister they hand picked six months ago, whom they fired yesterday.
Organizations including the Organization of American States tried and failed last week to mediate disagreements in an attempt to save the fragile transition.
