People celebrate after news of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s departure yesterday.

HAITI descended into chaos yesterday hours after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the island nation as looters ransacked Port-au-Prince police stations, prisons were opened and residents of the capital ran for cover as gunfire crackled.

It was difficult to know who was in control if anyone. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the city centre near the presidential palace. The reaction of Mr Aristide's backers was swift and angry. Armed bands of "chimeres" the most militant and ruthless of the ex-president's supporters from the slums roamed the city in pickup trucks, armed with shotguns and machetes.

But there were also celebrations.