Gang violence drives thousands from Haiti capital, hunger sets in
PORT-AU-PRINCE—Rampant gang violence in Port-au-Prince has triggered the exodus of tens of thousands of people from the Haitian capital where Friday charred bodies lay in the streets and residents battled a growing food security crisis.
Following the latest clashes between police and heavily armed gangs, an AFP correspondent saw several bodies in the city center and in the suburb of Delmas.
A resident told AFP he had seen more dead lying in another suburb, Petion-Ville.
The harrowing scenes played out as the tiny, impoverished Caribbean country continued to wait for the establishment of a promised transitional government meant to restore stability.
Added to the political chaos and street violence is the specter of desperate hunger.
Food crisis
Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for the UN secretary general, said new figures show nearly 5 million people—about half the population—face “crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity” and that of these, some 1.6 million face “emergency” insecurity.
The UN’s International Organization for Migration said that more than 33,000 people have fled the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince in two weeks.
On Friday, there was an uneasy calm in the capital after another day of violence. —AFP
