At least 60 are now dead in gun battles in
Jamaica.
Handout
Alleged druglord Christopher Coke
Coke, 41, who is wanted in New York for dealing drugs and arms, managed to slip the dragnet when hundreds of soldiers and cops stormed his fortified Tivoli Gardens neighborhood.
His heavily armed henchmen outgunned the cops and turned the capital city into a war zone, with terrified civilians trapped in their homes and the innocent falling in crossfire.
"This country is under siege by criminals and the time has come for it to be dealt with," said Information Minister Daryl Vaz.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding announced a one-month state of public emergency in the city.
"During this period of public emergency, a concerted effort will be made to go after the criminal gunmen in whatever community they may be ensconced," he said.
Even Kingston Public Hospital "has come under tremendous fire," with patients forced to lie on the floor under their beds for safety, said Health Minister Rudyard Spencer.
An AFP reporter saw three trucks loaded with bullet-riddled corpses, one of an infant, arrive at the hospital.
Coke was indicted by the feds in Manhattan in 2007 for heading a vast drug ring that runs crack into New York and guns back to Jamaica.
The Jamaican government, which had long protected him, moved Friday to arrest him and send him to Manhattan for trial, setting off the unrest.
Coke is not only protected by his own mini-army, but is also backed by many of the poor Kingston residents he supports financially.
Police said more than 200 people were arrested and caches of weapons, fatigues and bulletproof vests were seized in yesterday's operations.
"This is becoming, sad to say, almost like a movie," said an announcer on Jamaica TV.
Kingston students taking important regional exams had to do it with bullets whizzing by outside, because education officials refused to excuse them.
"We are doing the best we can to reassure the students. We have provided them with lunch," said Education Minister Andrew Holness. "No candidate should sit exams under these conditions, but these are the conditions we are faced with."
The Obama administration joined European and Asian governments in warning tourists to stay away from Jamaica's capital. Beach vacationers usually fly to Montego Bay, across the island from Kingston.
Jamaicans in Flatbush watched from afar with growing anxiety.
"Jamaica can't never get a break. It's always something. Natural disasters and now this," said Orane Walters, 25, a deli worker.
"It's getting worse by the day," said Ivadne Williams, 26, a hotel worker with dozens of relatives in Kingston. "They are doing what they can not to get hurt."