PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Heavy gunfire erupted in downtown Port-au-Prince on Thursday after Haiti’s leaders made the rare and defiant decision to meet at the National Palace to symbolize the retaking of an area long controlled by powerful gangs.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths, but at least one armored vehicle driving through the area was shot up, according to local media reports.

Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and members of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, along with other high-ranking government officials, were at the National Palace when the heavy gunfire began.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the officials were evacuated, but local news site Tripotay Lakay filmed a caravan of official cars quickly exiting the National Palace from its rear exit as

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