New Age | 129 dead in prison break attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo

At least 129 people were killed this week in an attempted prison break in the Democratic Republic of Congo's largest and chronically overcrowded prison, the interior minister said on Tuesday.

The circumstances of the attempted escape from Makala prison in the capital Kinshasa in the early hours of Monday remain unclear.

But Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani announced the provisional death toll as 129 in a statement released to the media via video on Tuesday.

Among them were 24 who were shot despite warnings, he said.

At least 59 others were injured and were being treated, he added.

Witnesses said they heard gunfire around 2 a.m. Monday that continued for several hours near the prison, a popular residential area.

Daddi Soso, an electrician in his 40s, said he saw security force vehicles carrying away bodies in the early hours of the morning.

As AFP journalists on site observed, the police had cordoned off the roads leading to the prison on Monday.

The interior minister said many people had been crushed or suffocated and several women had been raped. He did not provide further details about their identities.

Authorities did not say how many prisoners escaped or attempted to escape.

Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said on Monday morning that security services were on site and urged residents “not to panic.”

A few hours later, he said on national television that the situation was “under control.”

Justice Minister Constant Mutamba later told X that investigations were underway “to identify and severely punish the sponsors of these acts of sabotage.”

Makala Prison, the largest in the vast Central African state, has space for 1,500 inmates.

However, it is completely overcrowded and human rights organizations regularly complain about the prison conditions.

According to official statistics, there are 14,000 to 15,000 prisoners housed there, about ten times as many as planned.

The escape attempt not only resulted in human casualties but also caused damage to buildings.

Part of the prison, especially the area with the administrative offices, was set on fire, the government said.

The prison was already badly damaged in an attack by armed men in 2017. As a result, more than 4,000 inmates escaped, some of whom were described by the police as “dangerous”.

The circumstances that led to this major prison break were never clarified, despite the establishment of a commission of inquiry.