Americans looking to escape violence in Haiti fear there is no way out
Newsy
Some Americans who are trying to flee the escalating violence in Haiti say that they find themselves stuck in the country.
As the violence in Haiti continues with no end in sight, the U.S. State Department asked U.S. Southern Command to deploy a Marine fleet anti-terrorism security team — known as a FAST team — to the U.S. embassy in Haiti. The U.S. has already evacuated nonessential personnel from the embassy there.
As armed gangs roam the streets of the capital of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's main international airport remains closed. That's left American missionary Jill Dolan and her family hiding in a guest house near the airport.
"We hear a lot of gunfire, generally at night. We hear a lot," she said. "Yesterday, there was a whole bunch of it, though, during the day. So, you just never know."
Dolan runs the nonprofit Love a Neighbor, that operates an orphanage in rural Haiti.
One of Dolan's daughters plans to get married this month in Florida, and the rest of her family booked flights to go back to the U.S. weeks before the violence erupted. However, Dolan said they never got to use the tickets because airlines suspended flights in and out of the country earlier this month.
