Residents of Haitian capital improvise for their shelter

Residents of the Haitian capital's Solino neighborhood congregated to improvise shelters in the neighboring Bourbon neighborhood.

In a desperate effort to establish a camp where they can settle, the residents join forces with hammers, sticks, and machetes.

They are among thousands of residents displaced by gang violence in the capital Port-au-Prince.

Masses of residents fled a running battle last Thursday between gang members and police in one of the few neighborhoods of Haiti’s capital that hadn't already been fully taken over by gangs, as violence flared amid political turmoil.

Families frantically packed mattresses and furniture into cars and carried their belongings on their heads as they left the Solino neighborhood, one of a handful of areas in Port-au-Prince where a coalition of gangs, called Viv Ansanm, and police were locked in a violent firefight over the past several days.

"Haiti must hold elections to elect a new government. I can't lie to you, I have no idea how the government will be able to organize the elections because violence is dominating everything. And the government doesn't seem to have the will to solve the problem of insecurity," said Claudy Deausou, a displaced resident from the Solino neighborhood.

Violence has exploded in the capital since Sunday when Haiti's transitional council created to restore democratic order fired the interim prime minister amid political infighting.

The Caribbean nation hasn't held an election since 2016, largely because of the gang violence.

Gangs like the Viv Ansanm coalition often seize on moments of political chaos to make power grabs like the one seen in Solino in recent days.