ORLANDO, FLA. (WSVN) - Florida is helping to get people out of Haiti as a flight of passengers escaped the violence.
On Friday morning, three people from South Florida who were able to escape Haiti, woke up safe and sound in Orlando as gangs and gun violence continues to run rampid in the country.
Thirty-two people, including 10 children, landed at MSO Thursday night in a chartered flight arranged by the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Angelie Bhanor, traveling with her sister and her 18-month-old niece, was among those on the flight.
They were in the country’s second-largest city Cap-Haitien for the past month visiting family.
More than 30,000 people have fled Haiti as the government unravels.
Earlier this week, evacuees landed at Miami International Airport using commercial flights through Sunrise Airlines, a Haitian airline that announced new direct flights from Cap-Haitien.
Gangs continue to terrorize the population and attack police stations, and other government facilities in the country’s capital, Port-Au-Prince.
Dozens of people have been killed and tens of thousands have been left homeless since the gang attacks began on Feb. 29. The gangs have also stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons and released more than 4,000 inmates.
Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management, said the size of the flights will get smaller, from 20 people to 10-12.
He also said that it will get more complicated as they move forward.
But now, for the first time in a month, Bhanor and her family are finally out of harm’s way and these children can play a bit easier.
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