Shots fired near Miraflores palace in Caracas as drones spotted overhead, days after US forces captured former president Nicolas Maduro.
CARACAS: Gunfire erupted near Venezuela’s presidential palace late Monday, according to witnesses.
The incident occurred days after US forces captured the now-deposed president Nicolas Maduro in a military raid.
A source close to the government said the situation was under control.
Unidentified drones flew over the Miraflores palace in central Caracas, prompting security forces to open fire around 8:00 pm.
The shooting happened hours after Maduro’s deputy Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as interim president.
Bursts of gunfire rang out but were not as strong as during the pre-dawn attack on Saturday that toppled Maduro.
A resident living five blocks from the palace said the incident lasted about a minute.
“The first thing that came to mind was to see if there were planes flying overhead but there were not,” the anonymous resident said.
“I just saw two red lights in the sky.”
Video posted on social media appears to show tracer bullets being fired into the sky.
The footage also showed many security force members rushing to the palace after the shots.
The Communications Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
