Following two days of violent protests in Haiti, Jim Foglio said his wife and other volunteers from the Denver-based nonprofit Bridge of Life are among those sheltering in place in the country.
Tamara Foglio and a group of volunteers flew from Miami to Haiti early Sunday morning after previous flights were canceled. When the group landed, they saw black smoke billowing over the airport, and there were no people on the roads as they drove to stay in a local hotel. They were planning to meet up with another group of volunteers from the organization, but current conditions made it impossible.
“As soon as they landed, their coworkers sent a message saying they couldn’t get to them, no way,” Jim said.
The unrest comes after looters pillaged burned and vandalized shops in Haiti’s capital Sunday continuing two days of violent protests over the government’s attempt to raise fuel prices.
Journalists saw young men stripping shelves bare in some supermarkets that were charred from the protests. Several bodies lay among debris scattered in the streets.
With the situation still chaotic, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince on Sunday warned U.S. citizens to shelter in place. It noted that many airline flights had been cancelled and said, “The airport has limited food and water available.”
The cancellation of flights stranded church groups and volunteers from a number of other U.S. states, including South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Alabama.
About 30 volunteers from a Bradenton, Fla., church were unable to make it to the airport Saturday because of protesters blocking the streets, according to the Bradenton Herald.
The group from Woodland Community Church includes about 18 teens, plus ministers and a handful of parents, said Jill Kramer, whose 15-year-old daughter is on the trip. They tried to leave for the airport early Saturday morning but turned back after they encountered protesters.
Kramer, who spoke to her daughter by phone, said the group has food, water and safe shelter at the nonprofit group where they had been working.
“The mission team, the directors they all decided it just wasn’t worth it to go farther,” Kramer told the newspaper.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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