Haiti unrest: Shops and police station looted as thousands protest

Rising prices, fuel shortages and corruption have fuelled the unrest

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Haiti amid violent protest against President Jovenel Moïse.

A police station was looted and stripped bare, and shops and banks were attacked in the capital, Port-au-Prince. Police responded by firing tear gas and live ammunition.

Fuel shortages, rising prices and allegations of government corruption have fuelled weeks of protest.

Mr Moïse cancelled his speech at the UN this week to appeal for calm.

His address to the nation on Wednesday has failed to end the violence in one of the Americas' poorest nations.

Four people have died in recent days.

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Friday's protests were among the most violent of the recent unrest.

Protesters are demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse

The police station in the poor district of Cité Soleil was stripped of its furniture and metal roof.

"People are taking whatever they can to make their houses better because they are tired of getting soaked when it rains," one protester, Steven Edgard, told the AFP news agency.

Wealthier neighbourhoods such as Delmas and Pétion-Ville saw banks, ATM machines and shops looted, with one building set on fire, Reuters reported.

Blazing barricades were erected from tyres and rubbish.

Earlier this year, Mr Moïse rejected calls for his resignation, saying he would not leave the country in the "hands of armed gangs and drug traffickers".