CP24 journalist vacationing in Puerto Vallarta says he’s safe, mostly unaffected by violence

CP24.com journalist Joshua Freeman describes the situation in Mexico and the uncertainty facing travellers who were due to travel home.

A CP24.com journalist currently on vacation at a resort in Jalisco state, just a few kilometres north of Puerto Vallarta, says he’s safe and mostly unaffected by the violence that has erupted in the nearby town.

Joshua Freeman, who calls Toronto home, told CP24 on Sunday afternoon that he found out about the situation shortly after the Olympic men’s hockey game ended this morning when at least one person in the large group he’s with received a message on their phone telling them to remain on their resort and not venture out too far.

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He said his party is spread out over a number of resorts and in one case the beach near one of the them was shut down due to the police activity.

The beach where he’s staying, however, remains open, Freeman said, but not too many people are down there at this time.

‘You can tell that something is happening’

The main road, he added, which is usually fairly busy is currently “dead quiet.”

“You can tell that something is happening.” Freeman shared.

“There’s black smoke you can see rising in the distance at several points around on the horizon, and the lobby is just absolutely jam packed where I am with tourists whose flights have been cancelled.”

‘A lot of uncertainty for travellers here’

He said people are trying to rebook their flights and a few people he’s spoke to in the lobby said they’re not quite sure what they’re going to do as it’s a busy season and hotels and resorts are full, “so a lot of uncertainty for travellers here.”

The Toronto-based reporter said he’s still got a few more days in Mexico before heading home and has received a message from his airline to reschedule his flight at a later date for no charge.

A number of airlines are taking that approach to get tourists home safe in the coming days. The violence has also disrupted a number of flights heading to that region.

Some people in Freeman’s group have been affected and are trying to figure out where they’ll be staying as their fights home scheduled for today have been cancelled.

“Airlines are trying to pivot to make room on their flights for people who don’t have to get back, you know, immediately, to try and see if maybe they they’re willing to stay a little bit longer. So I think we have a couple of days yet before I’m set to go, so I’m not stuck without a place or I don’t have to worry about those travel arrangements just yet,” Freeman said.

“But there are people in my party who are needing to get back to work. They thought tonight, but that’s obviously not going to happen, so they’re making plans to stay with those who do still have accommodation here. There’s a little bit of a ricochet effect where you know, you see people kind of wheeling their luggage around trying to figure out what to do next.”

Not much sense of feeling unsafe: CP24 reporter

Overall, Freeman said he doesn’t feel unsafe in the Puerto Vallarta area at this time, nor do those on the resort with him appear to be either.

“If you walk around (here), people are having fun in the sun, much like you’d expect at a resort. You can see smoke rising off in the horizon and you don’t quite know what it’s about, but there’s not really much of a sense of, you know, not being safe here,” he said.

“Life is kind of continuing as you’d expect in a sleepy resort town. So you know, most people are just concerned about their travel plans and where they’re going to stay tonight.”

GTHA residents in Puerto Vallarta

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