The U.S. has begun evacuating some Americans trapped in Haiti amid one of the countrys worst periods of political unrest, but hundreds more have asked the State Department for assistance as gangs continue to control larges swaths of the nations capital.

Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the State Department, described the ongoing situation in Haiti Tuesday as dire, but that government-sponsored flights had ferried some citizens to the nearby Dominican Republic. Haitis capital, Port-au-Prince, has erupted in gang violence in recents weeks that has prompted the shutdown of the citys airport and cut off its main port from receiving food and supplies. Thousands of inmates were freed amid attacks on prisons and more than 15,000 Haitians have been forced from their homes amid the unrest.

The violence has spread to some of the capitals wealthier areas in recent days, The Guardian reported , and Patel said the situation remained fluid and was changing on a day-by-day basis.