US missionaries trapped in Haiti beg for help amid violent gang takeover: ‘The gunfire never stops’

US missionaries trapped in Haiti say they are worried nobody is coming to rescue them as gang violence and lawlessness tear the country apart, leaving dead bodies piled up in the streets.

Jill Dolan and her family are trapped in the country, sheltering in place at a makeshift motel in capital Port-au-Prince — where most of the violence has been concentrated — awaiting an evacuation, while gunfire can be heard outside day and night.

Dolan, who helps run an orphanage in Haiti through her organization Love A Neighbor, said she is in contact with the US Embassy, but little help has been offered.

“Really what they say is like, ‘Be safe.’ I’m just like, ‘Okay, well that’s not really helpful,’” Dolan said.

“My fear is that we will be caught in the middle of something really dangerous. We’re already on the front lines of it, we’re in a bad area,” Dolan said, adding: “It’s kind of depressing. The gunfire never stops.

Civil order has broken down in the capital, with gunmen from bloodthirsty street gangs and looters roaming the streets.

Thousands have already fled amid the chaos and reports have described bodies piling up in the streets as there is no one to pick up the corpses, causing the city to smell strongly of death.

Lynn, who asked The Post to only refer to her by her first name, and Miriam Cinotti do mission work with Dolan and are stranded in a different area of Haiti, which has declared a state of emergency.

Their area hasn’t been overrun yet but they are worried and trying to leave. However, both international airports in the country are closed due to the violence and attacks.

The US military executed an airlift of US Embassy personnel over the weekend and has been deployed to provide additional security at the embassy.

“Nobody’s reached out to us or anything. And then of course, when we saw the non-essential workers get picked up, we were thinking well, maybe they’re going to come back and start evacuating Port-au-Prince and then have a plane for everyone else,” Cinotti said, adding that she came to Haiti to help rescue 80 girls from gang violence.

“We’re worried because we’re in a country where we don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s unpredictable what’s going on, we don’t know,” Lynn said, expressing concern over her husband’s condition as a diabetic and his ability to get medication.

Haiti erupted in violence Feb. 29 as gangs began to attack and burn down police stations and government buildings, throwing the country into bedlam.

Gangs tried to seize control of the main Toussaint Louverture International Airport, which has been closed since last week.

They have stormed prisons and released roughly 4,000 inmates and shut down major roads by imposing blockades.

The main port in Port-au-Prince has been closed, leading to food and water shortages. Schools, banks, government offices, gas stations and many hospitals are also closed. The few hospitals still operating are running out of medicine.

Kim Patterson, who is trying to get her father, an ex-Marine, out of Haiti, told The Post she and her siblings have exhausted all of the options they have. She said the US Embassy “was not a lot of help” to the family.

“I’m crying every day, I never in my life felt as helpless as I feel right now because I’m a woman from southeast Georgia just trying to get my dad out of a Third World country that’s in the midst of a civil war,” Patterson said.

Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, aka “Barbecue,” has claimed responsibility for the attacks and is pledging to capture Haitian government officials.

He blocked Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning from a trip to Kenya, where he was negotiating for the country’s police to come in and help secure Haiti against gangs like Chérizier’s.

Henry announced his resignation Tuesday after threats to overthrow him.

He had attempted to land in the Dominican Republic, which has closed its border with Haiti, but was banned from doing so as the government there also said it would present too much of a security risk. He is currently in Puerto Rico.

The State Department didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

 

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