A charter flight carrying dozens of US citizens fleeing spiraling gang violence in Haiti landed Sunday in Miami, per the AP. Nearly 50 Americans were on the government-chartered flight, reports CBS News. The flight arrived at the Miami International Airport after the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince earlier this month urged US citizens to leave “as soon as possible” amid chaos and violence across the nation.
Passenger Avlot Quessa, who lives in Boston, traveled from the center of the country to board the charter flight after going to Haiti last month for what was supposed to be a weeklong trip to visit his mother. “It’s just terrible. … The suffering, you can only imagine,” Quessa tells the Miami Herald. “Haiti is my homeland and it’s very stressful to see the homeland going through this act of violence, destruction … and they are our neighbors.”