A number of American and Canadian tourists have also shared their first-hand accounts of the unrest and how it unfolded with news outlets.
Dallas resident Adryan Moorefield, who had been in Puerto Vallarta since last week, told CNN the situation was a “complete shocker”.
“It almost felt like being in the twilight zone,” he added.
Moorefield said he had been to the town before and thought it would be a “no brainer place to come and do a quick, easy beach vacation” but he is now stuck after his flight home was cancelled.
Another tourist in Puerto Vallarta, Tim Spencer from Toronto, told CBC that he saw corner stores and cars in flames from the rooftop of the Villa Divina hotel.
“I’ve never really seen anything like this before in my life, so it’s a little bit horrific,” he said.
Jim Beck told CNN he left his hotel on Sunday morning to get breakfast and saw “taxi cabs blown up all over town, blocking the roads”.
“Then immediately, everyone was running down the street, screaming and yelling, and they told everyone to get back to their hotels,” he said.
Beck said he has been coming to the town for several years, but this is the first time he has not felt safe there.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand urged its nationals to travel only when “safe to do so”.
“The situation remains fluid,” she said on Monday. “All Canadians in affected regions should heed the direction of local authorities.”
She said that more than 26,000 Canadians have registered with Global Affairs Canada – an increase of nearly 8,000 in one day.
Flight cancellations continued on Monday, leaving many stranded in Puerto Vallarta. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she expected flights to resume later in the day and on Tuesday.