Sporadic gunfire on Friday night rang out in Port-au-Prince, as residents desperately sought shelter amid a recent explosion of gang violence in the Haitian capital.
Humanitarian conditions continued to deteriorate, and aid groups and non-governmental organizations (NGO) have warned of a shortage of medical resources and food supplies after armed groups unleashed widespread chaos on the long-troubled Caribbean nation last week.
Gunshots were heard throughout the capital late on Friday, especially concentrated in the southwestern districts of Turgeau, Pacot, Lalue and Canape-Vert, an Agence-France Presse journalist said.
Photo: AP
Residents scrambled to take shelter, with witnesses saying they had seen clashes “between police officers and bandits” as gangs apparently tried to commandeer police stations in the city center.
Criminal groups — which already control much of Port-au-Prince, as well as roads leading to the rest of the country — have attacked key infrastructure in the past few days, including two prisons, allowing the majority of 3,800 inmates to escape.
The gangs, along with some ordinary Haitians, are seeking the resignation of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was due to leave office last month, but instead agreed to a power-sharing deal with the opposition until new elections are held.
On Thursday, the government issued a month-long state of emergency for the western region, which includes the capital, and decreed a nighttime curfew until tomorrow.
Port-au-Prince resident Fabiola Sanon said that her 32-year-old husband, James Sanon, was killed in the unrest.
He used to wake up early to earn money for their son’s breakfast before taking him to school, she said.
“James has never been in conflict with anyone,” she said. “He’s a simple cigarette salesman.”
Haiti’s airport remained closed on Friday, while the main port — a key source for food imports — cited instances of looting since it suspended services on Thursday, despite efforts to set up a security perimeter.
“If we cannot access those containers [full of food], Haiti will go hungry soon,” the NGO Mercy Corps said in a statement.
The Caribbean Community, an alliance of Caribbean nations also known as CARICOM, on Friday summoned envoys from the US, France, Canada and the UN to a meeting tomorrow in Jamaica to discuss the outbreak of violence.
The UN on Friday warned that thousands of people, especially pregnant women, are in danger of losing access to vital healthcare as the crisis drags on.
“If greater Port-au-Prince remains at a standstill in the coming weeks, almost 3,000 pregnant women could be denied access to essential health care, and almost 450 could face life-threatening obstetric complications if they do not receive medical assistance,” the UN’s office in Haiti said in a statement.
The body also warned that more than 500 sexual violence survivors could be without medical care by the end of this month if conditions do not improve.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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