Haiti has shut down its Port-au-Prince airport after gangs opened fire at landing planes Monday. A flight attendant aboard a Spirit Airlines aircraft was struck and suffered minor injuries. A JetBlue plane was also hit. Spirit, JetBlue and American Airlines have temporarily suspended flights to and from Haiti. The shooting came as a new interim prime minister, businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, was sworn in Monday, after Haiti’s transitional council ousted his predecessor Garry Conille. Fils-Aimé, the son of a prominent activist, vowed to restore security in Haiti and usher in long-awaited elections for a new president.
Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé: “We are reminding all Haitians, men and women, from the country within and from abroad, businesspeople big and small, the duty of the government is to organize elections that will not be contested. Everybody has to help.”
The U.N. Human Rights Office said nearly 4,000 people have been killed and another 1,800 injured in Haiti this year due to gang violence.