When chaos and violence once again engulfed Haiti after the collapse of its government, bestselling author Mitch Albom, his wife Janine and eight volunteers faced the daunting question of how to get home.
Amid widespread gang violence and violent unrest, Albom and the others were flown from Haiti Tuesday evening as part of an effort led by Rep. Lisa McClain, Republican of Michigan, and Rep. Cory Mills , Republican from Florida.
“Our group was ten people and we ran to this helicopter in the middle of the night, because the gangs were shooting at the helicopters and you had to go at night,” Albom said on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” Wednesday.
“The ten of us were shoved into this helicopter that had four seats. And so we were really just a group of people. It was straight out of one of those movies, you know, come on, come on , go, go. And you're in, you get up and you fly.”
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Albom and the nine other volunteers were in Port-au-Prince for his regular visit to a local orphanage run by his charity Have Faith Haiti when the current crisis erupted last week.
“[The last few days have been] It's even crazier than usual in Haiti,” Albom said. “As soon as we got there, the gangs started breaking into the prisons and releasing all the prisoners. And then the airports were closed, the ports were closed, the roads were closed, the borders were closed, and there was no way out. »
“We spent the eight days that we were sort of captive there, stocking up on food and water, trying to get fuel on the black market. Because it's quite possible that with the government leaves, everything descends into chaos there, and then you We can't get anything. So we stocked up for hopefully a month's worth of supplies. We asked people to help us on the Internet , what they did.
Although no stranger to gang violence and political unrest, Haiti's recent crisis erupted on February 29 when then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry traveled to Kenya to seek aid. help in the fight against gangs.
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Since then, Herny has been unable to return to Haiti because of gangs that have burned down police stations, attacked the main airport and raided two of the country's largest prisons.
“It’s crazy,” Albom said. “It's something we can't imagine, and what we experienced, not being able to leave, being in a country where you can't get out, is something no American has ever experienced. You experience it once and you realize that this is how Haitians live all the time. And it simply should not be tolerated.
On Tuesday, Henry announced he would resign, bowing to international pressure amid unrest that has engulfed the country.
The announcement came hours after officials, including Caribbean leaders and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, met in Jamaica for an emergency meeting to discuss Haiti's growing crisis, made worse by gangs violent which destroy public order in the country.
Brazil, Canada, France, Mexico, the United Nations and the United States are all discussing how to contribute to the multidimensional crisis in Haiti.
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Albom stressed the need for American intervention to resolve the current conflict.
“We need to tackle these gangs. They need outside intervention,” he said. “And I know no one wants American intervention abroad, but this is happening right off our shores. And if this country falls, neighboring countries in the Caribbean are in danger. That's what that happens when there is unrest in an area. We did it. occupied Haiti in the early 1900s for 15 years… We wrote their constitution. We have an obligation to take care of this country and its precious children, especially those we see every day.
The bestselling author added that he hopes to return to Haiti and to the children left at the orphanage run by his charity.
“I'm extremely worried about our children. And as soon as I can go back, I will,” he said.
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“My thoughts are with our children and the other Americans who are there, and there are plenty of other people,” Albom added. “There are so many Americans there who volunteer in orphanages, organizations, water projects. There are Canadians there, several thousand of them that we know of. There There are other foreign nationals who can't get out and, and I'm sure they live in fear of what's going to happen next. And so we can't forget about them. This… doesn't end because that our group was able to get out.
Albom is perhaps best known for his famous memoir, “Tuesdays with Morrie,” as well as his recently published New York Times bestselling fiction titles, “Stranger in a Lifeboat” and “The Little Liar.”
Fox News' Lawrence Richard, Peter Aitken and Associated Press contributed to this report.