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Haitian police officers rioted in the streets of Port-au-Prince on Thursday, demanding its government act after armed gangs killed 14 of their colleagues.

Dressed as civilians, officers blocked the streets and entrance to the country’s main airport as Prime Minister Ariel Henry arrived from Argentina where he attended the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Summit(CELAC).

Before flooding the airport, the rioters invaded Henry’s home where gunshots rang off.

Earlier in the day, reports were that police had stopped the local charge d’affairs and taken their vehicles and weapons.

Since then, Prime Minister Philip Davis who returned From Argentina on Wednesday ordered an immediate involuntary departure for Bahamian diplomatic personnel.

All diplomats are reportedly safe.

The National Union of Haitian Police Officers says 14 officers have been killed since the beginning of the year in gang attacks on police stations.

Seven officers were killed in a shootout on Wednesday alone, according to Haiti’s National Police. And in other instances, two officers were killed inside a police station in the country’s northern state, while four were killed execution-style in the streets of Port-au-Prince.

Video circulating social media shows the naked and bloodied bodies of six men stretched out in the street as their guns lay on their chests. Another video shows two masked men smoking cigarettes from the dismembered hands and feet of the dead men.

The gang who killed them, known as Gan Grif, still has the bodies, police said.

As the political and social conditions in Haiti continue to deteriorate, its citizens leave the embattled country in droves for greener pastures like the Bahamas and Florida.

Featured photos: Reuters/Ralph Tedy Erol

Another man is in police custody over his suspected involvement in the deaths of the Haitian migrants whose vessel overturned on the choppy seas in the early morning hours.

Police say the man is 54 years old and joins the two other smugglers caught on Sunday. Police said they know the two Bahamian traffickers from previous criminal acts in the country.

17 Haitians including a child died when the speed boat used for human smuggling, capsized in Bahamian waters on their way to Florida.

The dead included 15 women, one man, and a child. The other 25 passengers were rescued from the 30-foot speedboat.

It was reported that 60 people may have boarded the boat and authorities were searching for approximately eighteen people who are unaccounted for.

The survivors said they paid the three smugglers $3000 to $8000 to catch the boat ride to Miami, Florida. 

Haiti has been plagued with gang violence and economic and political instability for many years. But things have worsened following the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse last July.

The chaos has led many Haitians to flee the island-nation in search of a better life.

The Bahamas joins other CARICOM nations in flying the Haitian flag after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in the early morning hours of Wednesday.

Cabinet Office released a statement on Wednesday evening saying it will observe Moïse’s death as a member state of CARICOM.

Haiti’s flag will be flown along with the CARICOM flag at half-mast on Thursday, Friday and the day of his funeral.

After his death, CARICOM heads of government met and issued a statement condemning “this abhorrent and reprehensible act that comes at a time of deep turmoil and institutional weakness in the country.”

Caricom leaders have called for the assassins to be “apprehended and brought to justice, and for law and order to prevail,” in the island-nation.

The statement goes on to say, “In accordance with its values, as expressed in its Charter of Civil Society, the Caribbean Community does not settle its differences by violence which undermines democracy and the rule of law, but peacefully through dialogue and recourse to democratic institutions.”

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Gunmen killed President Moïse and critically wounded his wife Martine who is receiving treatment at the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

Police said they have arrested two suspects and killed four others responsible for Moise’s death at around six in the afternoon. It is not known if others were involved in the plot to kill the late president.

Haiti has since been placed on lockdown for two weeks since the events unfolded, as the country grapples to maintain control and security.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and is usually beset by gang violence, rising inflation, and protests by opposition supporters.