Meghan Mahoney spent eight worry-free days on vacation in Puerto Vallarta, but Sunday evening she told CBC News, the beautiful vistas of the seaside resort town aren’t what they were just hours before. 

“It’s been scary,” Mahoney said. “We can certainly see smoke on all sides … we’re just hoping that everybody stays safe and that we can travel home shortly.”

Originally from Clarke’s Beach, Mahoney is in the same situation as thousands of other tourists, after airlines cancelled flights to and from Puerto Vallarta.

A sudden explosion of violence broke out in the town on Sunday, after Mexican soldiers found and killed the Jalisco New Generation Cartel’s leader. Roadblocks with burning vehicles have since been set up around the city. 

Sunday was also when Mahoney was due to fly out. 

“We were actually packing up to get ready to check out and head to the airport this morning, when family friends who are also staying here in a different part of the city, they let us know that there are some fires around and to stay put if we could,” she said. 

Mahoney and her husband decided to shelter in place at their Airbnb, but they had intentionally run out of food in advance of their flight home to Calgary, where Mahoney works.

As Mahoney is in the second trimester of pregnancy, her husband decided to go to a nearby convenience store. However, the Airbnb host intervened and told her husband to get the necessities elsewhere. 

“And that was fortunate because that convenience store was actually burned, just down the road from us, about an hour later,” she said.

As for what’s next, Mahoney said they are following guidelines from authorities. 

“Stay where we are, keep a low profile,” she said. 

Despite the unexpected turn of events, Mahoney remains optimistic. 

“We are lucky in that we’re at this nice little accommodation with coincidentally a bunch of Canadians and one Italian, and everyone’s looking out for each other,” she said. 

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