Missionaries and nurses trapped in Haiti as protests sweep country

The missionaries have been confined to their compound in Grand Goâve, an area roughly 50 kilometers away from capital city Port-au-Prince, after nearby roads littered with burning tires were blocked, according to a statement from their group Haiti ARISE.

"We have nowhere to go, roads are blocked, rioting all over the streets and businesses are being destroyed," a man referred to as Marc says in a video posted on the group's Facebook page. "We do have a team here and we have been trying to get them out and it has been totally impossible," he adds.

Haiti President Jovenel Moise defiant amid deadly protests and calls for his resignation

Haiti has been gripped by protests and unrest for more than a week, as demonstrators calling for the country's president to resign over soaring inflation and allegations of corruption have set cars ablaze and clashed with police.

Several people have been killed in the clashes, according to local media reports.

Meanwhile, an additional group of eight Canadian nurses have started a crowdfunding appeal to secure a passage out of the country, after they too were trapped in their charity's compound.

The nurses write that they were asking for help from the public to charter a private helicopter flight and "help us escape."

"We are stranded here because we are about an hour away from Port-au-Prince where the violent protest is and they have set up barriers on the roads to get to the airports," the women write in their GoFundMe appeal, which has surpassed its target. "It is unlikely we will pass those barriers without being harmed," they add.

Because of the Canadian Embassy closure in Haiti, their calls to the embassy have been redirected to Ottawa and have gone unanswered, they note.

The US and Canadian governments have warned people not to travel to Haiti due to crime and civil unrest. The Canadian government has issued a travel advisory saying: "avoid all travel to Haiti" and closed their embassy Friday for "security reasons" according to Canada's Foreign Policy account on Twitter.

An additional group of 113 Canadian tourists stranded at a beach resort are also scheduled to be evacuated on Saturday.

CNN's Hande Atay Alam, Taylor Barnes, Hira Humayun contributed reporting.

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