Monrovia, Liberia – According to Aljazeera, following an attempted breakout overnight from the largest prison in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), investigations are under way by the administration of that nation.
Authorities reported that early Monday morning heavy gunshots erupted from Makala central jail in the capital Kinshasa as prisoners tried to escape the packed facility.
Speaking on X, government spokesman Patrick Muyaya verified that there was a “an attempted escape” and that security personnel now had the matter under control.
Alain Uaykani of Al Jazeera, covering from Goma, claimed at least two deaths in the incident. “However, the pictures coming from the central jail of Makala show what local media already calls a carnage, but we cannot confirm the number of causalities.”
Uaykani also mentioned local media accounts claiming several dozen bodies were removed from the jail.
Living in the region, forty-year-old electrician Daddi Soso said to AFP news agency that he woke up during the night to hear gunfire. “There were gunshots from 1 or 2am in the morning, and until around 5am. There were deaths and there are people who fled, I saw law enforcement vehicles transporting bodies.”
With 1,500 prisoners’ capacity, Makala jail reportedly holds between 14,000 and 15,000 detainees. Following an armed raid late in 2017, over 4,000 detainees broke out from the institution. With scores of prisoners released in recent months, authorities had been working to lessen congestion.
On X, Justice Minister Constant Mutamba said, ” inquiries [are] underway to identify and severely punish the sponsors of these acts of sabotage”.
Among other initiatives to alleviate congestion, he also said authorities will build a new facility and banned the movement of prisoners to the jail until further notice.
Photo credit: Aljazeera
