State Department helps more than 30 US citizens leave Haiti on charter flight
Written by ABC AUDIO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on March 18, 2024
More than 30 U.S. citizens were returned to the United States from Haiti on a flight chartered by the U.S. State Department Sunday, a department spokesperson said.
One day after the State Department posted its plans for the flight on X, asking interested U.S. passport holders to register on an intake form, the flight departed from the northern port city of Cap-Haitien, and landed in Miami, Florida, according to the spokesperson.
As of Sunday night, it was unclear how many U.S. citizens stranded in Haiti have requested a charter flight, and how many Americans total remain on the ground.
The spokesperson pointed to the “fluid and quickly evolving situation” in the country, saying, “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 State Department is currently considering additional options to help get stranded Americans out of the country, including keeping a close watch on the availability of commercial flights.
U.S. citizens who want to leave Haiti have been asked to contact the Department of State via its website.
The U.S. State Department has been encouraging American citizens to leave Haiti following the recent spate of gang violence.
Haiti has been in open rebellion since earlier this month, with Haiti’s most powerful gangs unifying and launching a series of attacks against government institutions. Haiti’s acting Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, was out of the country when the attacks began. He has since resigned.
A state of emergency was declared by the government.
The U.S. State Department is encouraging American citizens to leave Haiti following the gang violence.
ABC News’ Matt Rivers contributed to this report
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