155 passengers arrive at MIA from Cap-Haitien, Haiti
MIAMI - Sunrise Airways and Global X Airlines joined together Monday to bring approximately 155 passengers from Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city, to Miami.
It's the first commercial flight to touch down at Miami International Airport from Haiti since the gang violence in Port-au-Prince has escalated over the last several weeks.
"It feels really good to be here," said Roldege Aries.
"I'm very happy because we got stuck there," said Mahalia Jackson.
"It is very, very, very bad. Very scary and unexpected as a matter of fact," said Raymond Metayer.
"Wherever you are — actually, you are not safe," said Carline Allen.
Roldege Arios is a Haitian Canadian who has been working as a youth soccer coach in Haiti. He says the kids are staying in a building with security now but says it hasn't been easy for them.
"We really want to have a better situation for the young kids and give them a chance to dream, because a lot of kids want to go back to school, and they can't go back to school — it's tough," said Arios.
Carline Allen, a former employee of the United Nations, says she hopes the United States government will do more to help those in Haiti.
"The feeling that we have is that we are left aside, we are left behind and we see the way that Americans handle other issues," said Allen.
But a commonality between everyone we spoke with traveling from Haiti is this, they say the people there are resilient, and they refuse to give up.
"I see the people in Haiti, they're strong, they're really trying to leave the situation. So, I'm proud of my people," said Arios.
A second Sunrise Airways and Global X combined flight touched down later Monday afternoon.
Sunrise Airways says the tickets from Monday's flight cost between approximately $700 to $1300.
There are also at least three other flights from Haiti scheduled to land at MIA this week.
