Haiti’s international airport was forced to shut down on Monday following a dramatic incident where gangs opened fire on a commercial flight attempting to land in Port-au-Prince. The attack targeted a Spirit Airlines flight arriving from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, striking a flight attendant who sustained minor injuries. The flight, just hundreds of feet from landing, was redirected to the Dominican Republic after the attack, as confirmed by Spirit Airlines and the US Embassy. Photos and videos showed bullet holes inside the plane.
The US Embassy labeled the incident as part of “gang-led efforts to block travel to and from Port-au-Prince”, warning that such actions could involve armed violence and disruptions at transport hubs. In response, Spirit, JetBlue, and American Airlines suspended flights to and from Haiti.
Simultaneously, parts of Port-au-Prince were engulfed in gunfights between gangs and police. Armed officers clashed with gangs while residents fled in panic, and fires were set in affluent neighborhoods. Schools were closed as fear spread.
The turmoil comes a day after a council meant to reestablish democratic order in the Caribbean nation fired the interim prime minister Garry Conille, replacing him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. The council has been marked by infighting and three members were recently accused of corruption.
As he was sworn in, Fils-Aimé said his top priorities were to restore peace to the crisis-stricken nation and hold elections, which haven’t been held in Haiti since 2016.
“There is a lot to be done to bring back hope,” he said before a room of suit-clad diplomats and security officials. “I’m deeply sorry for the people … that have been victimized, forced to leave everything they own.” 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 has long capitalized on political turmoil to make power grabs, shutting down airports, and shipping ports and stirring chaos.
The United Nations estimates that gangs control 85% of the capital of Port-au-Prince, while a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang violence struggles with a lack of funding and personnel, prompting calls for a U.N. peacekeeping mission.
(With inputs from Associated Press)