Haiti’s surge in gang violence has led more than 53,000 to flee the capital in less than three weeks

By EVENS SANON
Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — More than 53,000 people have fled Haiti’s capital in less than three weeks as deadly gang violence continues. That’s according to a new U.N. report. The majority of people fleeing are headed to Haiti’s rural southern region. That worries U.N. officials because the south doesn’t have enough infrastructure or resources and already hosts more than 116,000 Haitians who previously left Port-au-Prince. The exodus began shortly after powerful gangs launched a series of attacks on government institutions in late February. One woman says she left with her small children because stray bullets kept hitting the tin roof of their home.