Travelers return to Chicago from Mexico after being stranded amid cartel violence
The U.S. Department of State said that many areas of Mexico returned to normal after widespread unrest as of Tuesday morning, but Americans in Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, and Ciudad Guzman were still being told to shelter in place.
Meanwhile, some flights between western Mexico and Chicago have begun operating again, with the first travelers arriving Monday night.
The chaos began Sunday after Mexican special forces killed a powerful cartel leader known as "El Mencho." In response, cartels set cars, buses and gas stations on fire, and authorities reported more than 250 roadblocks across several states.
Panic also broke out at Aeropuerto Internacional Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in Guadalajara, as travelers scrambled for safety.
Despite that, some flights continued to operate, including additional arrivals expected at O'Hare International Airport on Tuesday.
CBS News Chicago spoke with some travelers who arrived at O'Hare late Monday night. Daniel Hurst and Daniel Martin were among those travelers, having flown home on the first flight from Puerto Vallarta back to Chicago.
They consulted social media to check on the situation before they left to come home.
"It was such an evolving situation where we got on Reddit and could see what was going on. Everyone was posting videos, and it was just like, we didn't know what was going to happen with the flights," said Martin. "No one knew. Everyone was locked down."
Before leaving Mexico, the two men were worried about how severe the situation would become.
"There was like talk online, like, is the cartel going to fight the army, and are we going to be in like sort of a war zone situation for a while, which just seems extreme because everything calmed down so fast?" said Martin. "But in the moment, you just don't know what's going to happen."
Finally, they found out they would be able to depart.
"Once we had word that our flight was probably still going to take off, we still didn't have transportation to the airport, so it was kind of just a waiting game to see if A, our incoming plane was going to come at all, and then B, if we would be able to get a taxi or Uber or something, and luckily, everything kind of coalesced at the right time," said Hurst, "and then we got really lucky — we made it safely."
The U.S. Embassy is still encouraging Americans in impacted areas to monitor official sources and avoid misinformation.
Travelers who spoke with CBS News Chicago said while things appeared calm when they left, the lack of clear information was the most difficult part.
More travelers were expected to arrive back in Chicago from Mexico on Tuesday afternoon.
