Biden administration charters helicopters to evacuate up to 1,600 Americans trapped in Haiti as gang violence leaves bodies in the streets and gun battles spread to the suburbs

The Biden administration has started chartering helicopters to evacuate Americans wanting to leave Haiti as gang violence continues to spread and the death toll rises.

Up to 1,600 U.S. citizens have asked the State Department for help with the airport closed and the carnage spreading to upscale neighborhoods around the capital Port-au-Prince.

Armed gangs have launched attacks on suburbs and bodies have been left in the streets as a result of heavy gunfire.

People in communities under fire called radio stations pleading for help from Haiti's national police force, which is outnumbered by the gangs.

Citizens dealing with the barbarity on the streets first hand have carried wooden coffins across roads strewn with debris and fires.

The Biden administration has started chartering helicopters to evacuate Americans wanting to leave Haiti as gang violence continues to spread

The State Department on Wednesday started the first flights to take Americans from Haiti to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

Thirty U.S. citizens will be able to leave Port-au-Prince daily aboard the U.S. government-organized helicopter flights, the agency said. 

'As of March 20th, the U.S. government is facilitating the safe departure of U.S. citizens from Port-au-Prince, Haiti,' State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.

'We are in the process of organizing government-chartered helicopter flights from Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, where U.S. government personnel are present to provide consular assistance. 

'And from Santo Domingo, American citizens will be responsible for their own onward travel to the United States.'

Patel also confirmed the number of Americans who want help as almost doubled in the space of days, from 1,000 earlier in the week to 1,600 on Wednesday.

'Some are interested in exploring departure options. Some just want to stay in touch with the United States of America or the embassy,' Patel said 'Some want expertise or advice on how they may be able to remain safe and others may not be in a place for safe departure now but may be down the line.' 

Gunmen have set fire to police stations, forced the closure of Haiti's main international airport and stormed the country's two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

Scores of people have been killed and some 17,000 others have been left homeless amid the violence.

GRAPHIC: Armed gangs have launched attacks on suburbs and bodies have been left in the streets as a result of heavy gunfire

Up to 1,600 U.S. citizens have asked the State Department for help with the airport closed and the carnage spreading to upscale neighborhoods around the capital Port-au-Prince

A woman carrying a child runs from the area after gunshots were heard in Port-au-Prince

People in communities under fire called radio stations pleading for help from Haiti's national police force, which is outnumbered by the gangs. A body lies outside police building in Port-au-Prince 

More than 360,000 people are internally displaced in Haiti, according to U.N. estimates. 

Unelected Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced last week that he would resign but a plan supported by Caribbean states and Washington to establish an interim presidential council has yet to be appointed. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has stepped in to help by chartering flights from the violence-ravaged nation to his state.

Republican Rep. Cory Mills, also of Florida, has flown two helicopter missions to rescue stranded Americans.