Mounting misery: Children line up to receive a plate of food at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince.
| Photo Credit: AP

The UN children’s agency chief offered a dire assessment on Marcg 17 of the chaotic situation in Haiti, saying it was “almost like a scene out of Mad Max,” which depicted a violent and lawless post-apocalyptic future.

“Haiti is a horrific situation,” UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell told CBS talk show Face the Nation.

“Many, many people there are suffering from serious hunger and malnutrition and we are not able to get enough aid to them,” with gangs controlling large parts of capital Port-au-Prince as well as key roads leading elsewhere.

The situation is “the worst that anyone has seen in decades,” she said.

“It’s almost like a scene out of Mad Max. That’s what it seems like,” Ms. Russell said of the 1979 film.

Haiti, already hit by drought, natural disaster and weak government, has seen “the near-collapse of basic services,” a recent United Nations report warned.

Shipment looted

The challenges facing foreign aid workers — some of whom have been attacked or kidnapped for ransom — were underlined on Saturday when gangs looted a UNICEF shipment intended to provide relief for suffering mothers and children.

As life grows more difficult for Haitians and foreigners, the U.S. Embassy said March 16 it was organizing a charter flight to evacuate its citizens from Haiti. Non-essential embassy staff were evacuated six days earlier.