Wood file: Canada can lose occasionally and still be No. 1
Canada was snakebit in the gold medal hockey game, and sometimes, even when you dominate the other team, you come up sho...
A Yorkton father and his 17-year–old son are stuck in Puerto Vallarta after their flight home was cancelled due to violence that broke out in parts of Mexico.
Scott McLachlan said they have been at the Sunscape resort this past week and were supposed to fly home Monday.
Read more:
- Canadians in Mexican state of Jalisco taking cover following outbreak of violence
- VIDEO: Sask. man shocked at increasing violence in Puerto Vallarta
- Premier Moe hints at ‘challenges’ in upcoming provincial budget
“Now we’re stuck in the hotel,” he said. “We don’t know when we’re getting out of here.”
He said they haven’t gotten any more details from WestJet about when their flight will be rescheduled.
“We’re just antsy to get home. We’ve been here for a week, and we were on the tail end of the trip, and you’re ready to go home, like you are, but you aren’t.”
McLachlan said they noticed the sky was different on Sunday morning when they woke up to go for breakfast.
“It was hazy outside, like, really hazy. When we came down the stairs of the hotel, from the lobby to the pool area up to where the eating facility is, it looked like it was raining, like dark, dark clouds,” said McLachlan.
“As we got closer, we realized it was smoke; we could see a bunch of smoke billowing from town, and we thought, it just must be a fire or something, and we never knew anything of it.”
Government officials in western Mexico have warned that warn that Jalisco State, which includes the popular resort city of Puerto Vallarta, is currently unsafe for travel after the leader of a major drug cartel, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, was reportedly killed in a government operation to capture him on Sunday. It prompted a string of violence from cartel members across the state.
McLachlan said while they were eating breakfast, word started to spread.
“All of a sudden, people were up snapping pictures and the buzz just took hold of itself. People were saying that the cartel had taken over the town and were fighting with the military police and they had taken the kingpin out.”
McLachlan said their resort is roughly a 15-minute cab ride from where most of the action was taking place.
“We could see helicopters going over and we could see smoke from town and everything like that.”
He said there is a lot of uncertainty amongst the guests at the resort.
“Everybody’s holding their phones close, and everybody’s phones are going off with relatives from home, calling and stuff like that.”
However, McLachlan said he feels safe right now, adding the situation at their resort is not as bad as other resorts in Puerto Vallarta.
“I have friends who are staying in another resort … They’re confined to their rooms. She sent me a picture, and they have yellow tape up, just like a police scene, they’re not allowed to leave certain areas, and they’re confined to their rooms and don’t have any of the amenities.”
However, he said his son is feeling stressed.
“He is very nervous. He has a girlfriend back home, and his mom is nervous for him and he’s nervous just because they’re worried for him.”
McLachlan said his sister is staying at a condo in downtown Puerto Vallarta, and the situation was even more intense there.
“She can hear gunshots and firing from machine guns close to her condo. She tried to go out on the street just to see if she could get some groceries, not knowing what was going on, and she was rushed back into her condo by the military.”
Regina man feeling safe in Puerto Vallarta, quieter than usual
Regina’s Mike Schuba is in Puerto Vallarta and said hasn’t felt in danger at all.
“I wasn’t really scared. After a while, it was more of an excitement, because there was no gunfire or anything that I could hear. It was just like small explosions, and that was probably gas tanks going up.”
Schuba says he is on the northern edge of the hotel zone, near the naval base.
“Most of the action happened from 10 a.m. until maybe 2 p.m. (on Sunday), then after that it pretty much settled right down. Two military helicopters landed right next door to us at the naval base, and then they flew around the city a lot.”
He said he saw vehicles on fire a couple of blocks from this condo.
“When the (Canada-U.S. Olympic gold medal) hockey game was still 1-1 in the third period, there was a loud explosion, and that was a semi-trailer that caught fire, maybe two blocks from us. Then there were three, smaller vehicles like a pickup truck and two other cars about another block further down that were set on fire,” said Schuba.
“But one thing I did notice is no fire trucks, no police sirens, just silence, and the streets just emptied out right away.”
While people were told to shelter in place, Schuba said they didn’t know until their Airbnb host sent them a message, telling them to stay indoors.
Regina’s Mike Schuba said a semi-trailer caught fire a couple blocks down the road from their condo in Puerto Vallarta, on the northern edge of the hotel zone. (Mike Schuba/Submitted)
So before they realized, he said they went out on Sunday, noticing the streets were quite empty.
“We went to see if the store was open, the Walmart, because it’s only a few blocks from here, but it was closed. There’s an army at every intersection on the major routes, preventing any vehicles from traveling.
“The look on the locals’ faces was one of sadness and like, ‘Sorry about this, this usually doesn’t happen,’ kind of thing, they look like they were disappointed.”
On Monday morning, Schuba said from where he is, it appeared the fires ended around 8 p.m. on Sunday.
“There were no new fires burning or anything like that. It’s been pretty much the same since. I see more vehicles slowly on the road, but the government said they were going to open public transportation again today (Monday).”
Schuba said normally, where their condo is, it’s quite busy. But it was quiet on Sunday night.
“It was the best sleep we’ve had since we’ve been here because it was quiet,” said Schuba. “You could hear the dogs barking from miles away.”
On Monday morning, Regina’s Alex Docking said there were burned out vehicles left on the highway near the Zona Romantica area. (Alex Docking/Submitted)
LISTEN: Former Sask. broadcaster says violent situation in Puerto Vallarta appears over, quiet streets, cleanup left
Regina’s Alex Docking is vacationing in Puerto Vallarta and said it appears the situation has ended where he is.
He is a former Saskatchewan broadcaster. He walked down the highway into the Zona Romantica area, also known as the Old Town area, of Puerto Vallarta on Monday morning, explaining on The Evan Bray Show that the streets are quiet.
Docking pointed to a burned-out pharmacy and vehicles burned on the highway, noting many stores likely still won’t open on Monday.
He said it appears the cleanup is what’s left from the situation, adding it will likely take some time to haul away the wrecked vehicles.
Regina’s Alex Docking said most stores are closed in the Zona Romantica area, also known as the Old Town area of Puerto Vallarta, on Monday, however one store had a side door open, with people lining up to buy food. (Alex Docking/Submitted)
