Drones flying near Venezuela’s presidential palace set off a hail of bullets and anti-aircraft fire in Caracas Monday night, days after US forces deposed and captured dictator Nicolas Maduro.
The drones were “flying without permission,” Venezuela’s Ministry of Communication and Information said in a statement, according to CNN.
“No confrontation occurred, and the entire country is completely calm,” the ministry added, without indicating who the drones may have belonged to.
A White House official told the outlet that the reports of gunfire were being tracked but that “the US is not involved.”
Video footage posted on social media showed a chaotic scene outside the Miraflores palace, with security forces rushing to the palace as what appeared to be tracer bullets were being fired into the night sky.
“The first thing that came to mind was to see if there were planes flying ovehead but there were not,” a witness told AFP. “I just saw two red lights in the sky.”
“Everyone was looking out their windows to see if there was a plane, to see what was happening.”
CNN reports that different paramilitary groups guarding the palace could be heard talking about a “misunderstanding” that led to the barrage of bullets being fired.
