At least 129 people have been killed in an attempted jailbreak at the Democratic Republic of Congo’s main prison, largely due to a stampede, authorities said.
In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, early on Tuesday, Interior Minister Shabani Lukoo said 24 inmates were shot dead by “warning” shots as they tried to leave the overcrowded Makala prison in the capital city of Kinshasa early Monday.
Apart from the gunshots and stampede, a fire also broke out in the jail’s administrative building, food depots, and hospital. Fifty-nine people were wounded in the chaos, he said.
“The mass escape attempt at Makala Central Prison resulted in the loss of life and significant material damage,” Shabani said in the video statement, adding that the situation was now under control.
Earlier, a prison official had said that no inmates had managed to escape. Those who tried had been killed.
The prison, which has a capacity for merely 1,500 inmates, holds over 12,000 people, according to an Amnesty International report. Most of them are awaiting trial.
There have been previous incidents of jailbreaks from the Makala prison. In 2017, a religious sect attacked the prison and freed dozens. The government said it is investigating the latest incident.
“The provisional human toll is 129 dead, including 24 who were shot after warnings,” minister Jacquemain Shabani said in a video message, adding that at least 59 others had been wounded at the Makala prison in the capital, Kinshasa.
His ministry said several people had been crushed or suffocated and a number of women had been raped.
Witnesses told AFP gunfire had started at the prison at around 2:00 am on Monday morning and lasted for several hours.
Daddi Soso, an electrician in his 40s living in the capital, reported seeing security force vehicles taking bodies away in the early hours.
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The authorities did not indicate as to how many inmates had escaped or attempted to do so, but at mid-morning on Monday government spokesman Patrick Muyaya told national television the situation was “under control”.
In addition to the fatalities caused by gunshots and the stampede, the chaos resulted in 59 people being wounded. Minister Shabani Lukoo confirmed in a video statement that the mass escape attempt led to significant loss of life and material damage, though the situation has since been brought under control. According to earlier reports, no inmates successfully escaped during the incident; those who attempted were killed.
The Makala prison, which has a capacity of only 1,500 inmates, currently houses over 12,000 people, most of whom are awaiting trial, as per an Amnesty International report. The prison has a history of jailbreaks, including a notable incident in 2017 when a religious sect attacked and freed dozens of inmates. The government has announced an investigation into the latest incident.
