At least 129 dead in DR Congo jailbreak attempt
Nearly 130 people were killed in an attempted jailbreak at the at the Makala prison in Kinshasa, the DR Congo’s largest, Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani said Tuesday. The toll includes 24 people who were shot “after warnings” Shabani said.
An attempted jail break at the Democratic Republic of Congo's largest and chronically overcrowded prison this week has left at least 129 people dead, the interior minister said Tuesday.
The circumstances around the bid to bust out of Makala prison in the capital Kinshasa in the early hours of Monday remain unclear.
But Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani in a statement released by video to the media on Tuesday announced a provisional death toll of 129 people.
They included "24 who were shot after warnings", he said.
At least 59 others had been wounded and were receiving care, he added.
Witnesses told AFP that they had heard gunfire at around 2:00 am on Monday and that it lasted for several hours in the area of the prison, a popular and residential neighbourhood.
Daddi Soso, an electrician in his 40s, said he had seen security force vehicles taking bodies away in the early hours.
On Monday, police had cordoned off the streets leading to the prison, AFP journalists at the scene saw.
The interior minister said many people had been crushed or suffocated and that a number of women had been raped. He gave no details on their identities.
The authorities have given no indication as to how many inmates escaped or attempted to do so.
A few hours later, he told national television the situation was "under control".
(AFP)
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