American and Canadian citizens say that they are "trapped" in Haiti, in the aftermath of a gang uprising that led to the sudden resignation of President Ariel Henry.
Violence has filled the streets of the impoverished Caribbean country - in an escalation of an already tense political situation. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres had previously condemned what he described as "staggering" levels of gang violence in a January report.
"Killings, kidnappings and sexual violence, notably against women and young girls, among other abuses, continue with widespread impunity," Guterress said at the time.
Henry was visiting Kenya with plans to establish a UN-backed coalition to address the gangs - many of which are under international sanctions. Instead he lost control of the country and hastily resigned, on Monday.
Canadian aid worker Richard Phillips, 65, has traveled to Haiti on dozens of occasions. In February, he arrived on Hispaniola to train local farmers in machinery operations and repairs. He was supposed to leave via the Port-au-Prince airport but his flight was canceled in the midst of the violence.
"We are seriously trapped," Phillips told the Daily Mail. "We are actually quite concerned about where this is going. If the police force collapses, there's going to be anarchy in the streets, and we might be here a month or more."
Missionary Flights International President Joe Karabensh said that his organization has received panicked phone calls from dozens of North Americans who have found themselves stranded.
"At this point the airports are closed and we are not able to do anything yet. We are just waiting to see when things settle down, you know it could be next week but who knows really," he told the Daily Mail.
"It is not so bad in some of the rural places yet but [with] the country going the way it is, the capital is like a war zone. It is going to have implications on food supply and things like that so they have made the decision they just want to get out."
Missionary Yvonne Trimble described the situation as "total anarchy" and "the worst" she'd seen the country.
American missionary Matt Prichard told the Daily Mail that he was struggling to find fuel, while the grocery stores had run out of goods. Pritchard, who is married to a Haitian woman and has two young Haitian-American children, has not yet been able to secure documentation for his entire family to return to the United States.
"We unfortunately seem to be stuck," he said.
