Updated 14.34 | Published 14.28
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full screen A man walks through a burnt down car workshop in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince. Photo: Odelyn Joseph/AP/TT
France has evacuated over 170 citizens and 70 people from other countries from violence-torn Haiti.
The people have been flown out with military helicopters and taken to a navy ship that will take them to the French possession of Martinique on Wednesday, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.
In recent weeks, the Caribbean nation has been in a state akin to total anarchy with looting and destruction, dead bodies littering the streets and growing fears of an imminent famine.
At the center of the crisis is the gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, also called “Barbecue”. He recently threatened civil war unless acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned, which also happened in mid-March.
Haiti is one of the world’s poorest countries. A total of around 1,100 French people live there, many of them with dual citizenship.
Several countries have previously evacuated diplomatic personnel from Haiti due to the unrest.