The Ministry also said that the incident is over and that there have been no injuries.
“A Turks and Caicos Island-based aircraft belonging to Inter Island Airways landed at Cape Haitien this morning and was highjacked by armed men while on the ground,” The Ministry said in a release yesterday. “The passengers, all Haitian nationals, were released unharmed at Cape Haitien, but the crew was forced to fly the aircraft and the highjackers to the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.”
Once in Port-au-Prince, the highjackers released the aircraft and its crew, also unharmed, the release said.
“The Ministry of Transport & Aviation immediately suspended all flights to Cape Haitien, including a scheduled Cat Island Airways flight that was already en route,” it continued.
The Cat Island Airways flight had landed at Great Inagua for refuelling on its way to Cape Haitien but was recalled.
“The airport at Cape Haitien is closed to all traffic from The Bahamas and no Bahamian planes will be allowed to travel there until further notice,” the release said. “The prohibition on aircraft travel to Haiti does not extend to the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, which remains secure, but the public is reminded of a government advisory to all Bahamian citizens that travel to Haiti is currently unsafe.”
Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin told the Bahama Journal that the flights are suspended “indefinitely”.
“This has accelerated in such a short time,” she said.
Minister Hanna-Martin said that no other airports are affected at the time.
There were also reports on Sunday of the hijacking in the international media.
Walter Eussenius, owner of the Mont Joli Hotel in Cape-Haitien, said in a CNN report, “The population is terrorized and the city is completely surrounded”
Speaking about the rebels who moved into the city centre, Mr. Eussenius said, “They came in, went by the port, locked it up. They locked up the international airport, roamed through town firing and commandeered the prison, released the prisoners.”
He added, “The situation is chaotic, very chaotic.”
Mr. Eussenius added in that report that he drove to the airport and was told that rebels had taken over the airport three miles from the city and tried to hijack an airplane.
Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell has advised Bahamians contemplating travel to Haiti to consider the situation they may be putting themselves in if they visit Haiti.
“We are cautioning persons who plan to travel to Haiti to exercise prudence and caution if they decide that is a journey that they wish to make now,” he said last week. “The news reports have shown that there is a good deal of violence in Haiti and one does not want citizens of The Bahamas caught up in those issues if it can be avoided.”
He has also warned Bahamians to use good sense on deciding whether to make journeys to Haiti for reasons other than official visits.
Bahamian Ambassador to Haiti Dr. Eugene Newry has the authority to close the Bahamian Embassy if he determines that there is a threat to Bahamian personnel, Mr. Mitchell said.
“The ambassador has the full authority to evacuate the embassy without reference to Nassau if he feels that the security situation has deteriorated to the extent that he has to withdraw,” Minister Mitchell has said.
The U.S. State Department, meanwhile, has ordered that all non-essential personnel leave H
The Bahama Journal
