Gunfire Near Haiti Airport Disrupts Flights For Second Day
Residents flee their homes during clashes between police and gang member at the Portail neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on February 29, 2024. Photo by AFP
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Mar 2 – Flights at Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti’s capital have been disrupted for the second straight day by heavy gunfire nearby, as the Caribbean nation grapples with surging gang violence and political instability.
The US Embassy in Haiti issued a security alert on Friday, warning of gunfire and disruptions to traffic near the domestic and international terminals of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport, as well as surrounding areas including a hotel and the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police.
“The US Embassy is temporarily halting travel of official US personnel to the airport and instructing any US personnel at the airport to remain there,” the embassy said.
It comes a day after shootings erupted across Haiti’s capital, forcing flight cancellations and killing at least four people during an attack on a police station.
American Airlines said Thursday it had suspended its daily service between Miami and Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince.
“We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed,” spokesperson Laura Masvidal told CNN.
Haitian airline Sunrise Airways told CNN that it suspended “all flights until further notice to ensure the safety of passengers, ground crews, and aircraft.”
Rapid gunfire near the airport had “caused damage to some aircraft and endangered users” of the domestic terminal, according to Sunrise Airways.
A US flight carrying dozens of Haitian deportees was also canceled, according to a source with knowledge of the operation and a lawyer for one of the deportees.
Immigration lawyer Philip Issa told CNN on Friday that his client was removed and taken back to detention facilities after boarding the plane in Miami Thursday.
“It’s baffling that we’ve continued to deport people to Haiti when the conditions are so dire,” he said, while also complaining that US authorities had failed to provide food to the detainees or let them out since 4 p.m. the previous day.
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