KINSHASA, Congo — A try to jailbreak in Congo’s main prison in the capital killed at least 129 people, most of them in a flash flood, authorities said on Tuesday.
A provisional assessment showed that 24 prisoners were shot dead by “warning” shots as they tried to escape from the overcrowded Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa early Monday, Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani said on the X social platform.
“There are also 59 injured people taken care of by the government, as well as some cases of rape of women,” he said, adding that order has been restored in the prison, some of which were burnt in the attack.
Makala, Congo’s largest prison with a capacity of 1,500, houses more than 12,000 prisoners, most of whom are awaiting trial, Amnesty International said in its latest country report. The facility has registered previous jailbreaks, including 2017 when an attack by a religious sect freed dozens.
Gunfire inside the prison began around midnight on Sunday until Monday morning, residents said. A senior government official said earlier that only two deaths were confirmed during the incident, a figure disputed by rights activists.
Videos that appeared to be from the prison showed bodies lying on the ground, many of them with visible injuries. Another video showed inmates carrying people who appeared to be dead into a vehicle.
There were no signs of forced entry into the prison, which is located in the city center, 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the presidential palace.
The escape attempt was planned from inside the prison by prisoners in one of the wings, Mbemba Kabuya, deputy justice minister, told local Top Congo FM radio.
In the hours that followed the attack, the road to the prison was cordoned off while authorities convened a panel to investigate the incident.
Makala – among other Congolese prisons – is so overcrowded that people often starve to death, activists say. Scores of prisoners have been released this year as part of efforts to clean up the prisons.
Justice Minister Constant Mutamba called the attack a “premeditated act of sabotage,” adding that those who “instigated these acts of sabotage … will face a stern response.”
He also announced a ban on the transfer of inmates from the prison and said authorities will build a new prison, among other things to reduce overcrowding.