The damage is considerable, according to some local residents interviewed on site by AyiboPost
On the afternoon of Sunday, March 24, 2024, columns of fire spread by heavily armed bandits ransacked infrastructure in the lower city of Port-au-Prince.
More than a dozen warehouses stocking, among other things, mattresses, pharmacies, residents’ houses scattered in several streets near the palace and the National Penitentiary suffered the destructive ravages of the flames.
More than five arteries were hit by the fire, including Rue Monseigneur Guilloux, La Réunion, Rue du Center and Rue de l’Enterrement, among others.
The damage is considerable, according to some local residents met and interviewed by Ayibopost.
On March 25, 2024, a man alerted the mechanics to save the only remaining vehicle in a garage.
Michel had his mechanical activities in the rue de la Réunion. After the onslaught of the flames, the man, visibly in his thirties, told Ayibopost that he had suffered huge losses.
«I lost my work tools, cars I repaired for customers and my goods,» he said.
A mechanic is trying to recover some parts from vehicles that were set on fire by bandits on Sunday, March 24th.
A mechanic is trying to save some parts from the vehicles set on fire by bandits on Sunday, March 24th.
A mechanic strives to preserve certain components of vehicles that were destroyed by fires caused by bandits on Sunday, March 24th.
Because of the insecurity, Michel had already left La Plaine in a hurry, where he had taken up residence, to establish his quarters in the commune of Port-au-Prince.
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«The bandits have surrounded the area. They looted and took away mattresses from the depots before setting them on fire,» he said.
The day after the tragedy, the smell of burning lingers in the air and a dreary desolation hangs over the streets of the city centre.
The completely deserted streets leave a spectacle of cars reduced to piles of charred scrap metal. The Rue de la Réunion also paints a picture of an overflow of houses that the wisps of smoke have swallowed into remains.
View of Rue de la Réunion the day after the fire, where the bandits set fire around the First Baptist Church of Port-au-Prince.
«The attack started around four or five o’clock in the evening,» according to a local resident interviewed by AyiboPost who, under fire, did not have time to reveal his identity to the newspaper.
Working in a carwash on Rue de la Réunion, the man deplores the untenable situation he is currently facing.
‘The fire took away everything I had. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to continue my activities,» he thunders, his throat choked with barely contained rage.
The streets next to the National Palace are also empty. A few residents of the area, in isolation, carry a few parts of cars that defied the flames. A short distance away, other people, suitcases packed on their heads, are hastening their pace to try to put miles between their families and the scene of a new disaster, which has become a news item in Port-au-Prince.
Citizens are fleeing the lower part of Port-au-Prince due to the assault by armed gangs.
The Frères Nau co-educational college, several clinics and pharmacies near the hospital of the State University of Haiti (HUEH), suffered the rage of the flames. And the École Nationale des Arts (ENARTS), one of the largest centers of art education in the country, appears to have been partially vandalized. Ayibopost tried unsuccessfully to get in touch with the institution’s officials.
Several vehicles were set on fire around the Champ de Mars during the first attack on the Port-au-Prince police station.
This tragedy in downtown [or city center] occurs in a context of recurring attacks perpetrated against neighborhoods and infrastructures in Port-au-Prince by the coalition of gangs known as ‘Viv ansanm,’ under the leadership of former policeman Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier.
The bandits attempted to set fire to the building of the Ministry of the Interior and Territorial Communities (MICT). Flames can be seen on part of the building. | © Jean Feguens Regala/AyiboPost.
Law enforcement officers have blocked the streets around the National Palace.
Citizens are fleeing the lower part of Port-au-Prince due to the assault by armed bandits
More than 33,000 people have fled their homes in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
By Jean Feguens Gifts et Junior Legrand
Cover image: On March 25, 2024, mechanics came to retrieve the tools that remained after the bandit assault at the bottom of the city of Port-au-Prince the day before. |© Jean Feguens Regala/AyiboPost
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